


The Girl Next Door

by siophiefandom



Category: Pretty Little Liars
Genre: F/F, paily
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-03
Updated: 2016-10-01
Packaged: 2018-08-12 17:51:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 31
Words: 60,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7943719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/siophiefandom/pseuds/siophiefandom
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Emily Fields needs a pretend girlfriend to accompany her to her cousin's wedding, she ends up asking her new and possibly straight neighbor, Paige McCullers. It should be fine, as long as everyone remembers it's only make believe. Paily. Rated T for adult situations and language.</p><p>Originally published August 1-31 2016 on fanfiction dot net</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Wedding Invitation

"Hi!" Emily, fumbling with her keys, called with a pleasant, slightly shy smile to her neighbor, who was on her knees, digging in her garden. With one of the blue latex gloves that were protecting her hands, Paige brushed away the strands of hair that were peeking out from her bandana and looked up, smiling, as she waved to Emily with the spade that was in her other hand. There were a few beads of perspiration on Paige's forehead, and Emily, for a split second, had the idea of taking a cool glass of iced tea out to her. But she didn't dare gaze at her neighbor too long. She didn't want to give the wrong impression.

Too late.

"Ooh!" Hanna gave just the reaction that Emily had been hoping to avoid. She put her hands on Emily's shoulders from behind as they shuffled inside. "Who's the hottie?"

Emily jerked Hanna inside quickly and slammed the door behind her. She was sure that Paige had overheard. And she was sure that was why Hanna had said it.

"Hanna, can we, please, not?"

Emily was tired of trying to convince people of the truth: that she was happily single. She would have been lying if she had said those words a year earlier - or even six months ago. But it was true, and had been for some time. Emily was no longer girl-crazy, like her boy-crazy best friend. She no longer felt the need to have a woman to complete her, or even to get her through the night. She was enjoying single life.

"Emily!"

Emily's glare said, "What?" Not that it mattered to Hanna.

"So, you had one bad relationship. That doesn't mean you have to give up on all women!"

"We're actually going to change to another subject, now," Emily droned in a patronizing monotone.

"Uh, no!" Hanna raised her eyebrows. "We're actually not!" Emily glared at her. "She's obviously into you, Em!"

"Ugh!" _Here we go again._ "What makes you think she's even 'into' girls?" Hanna opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, Emily cut her off. "And don't say her nails, because, if you had been paying attention, you would've noticed that she had gloves on!"

"I wasn't going to say that," Hanna protested, lying through her teeth. "But it's kind of interesting the way that you picked up on that little detail about her fingers. So, these gloves, did they have _holes_ in those gloves?"

"Hol - Hanna, what are you even talking about?"

"Holes! If she's got nails like mine," - Hanna held them out for her to see - "they'd poke right through those gloves! But, if she's got lesbian nails…"

"Ugh - God, Hanna - I swear we're not doing this!"

"Don't get all pissy just because my gaydar is way better than yours!"

"Fine. Go ahead. You can keep on talking about it. I'm just going to go upstairs tomy room and shut the door, but don't take that to mean that I'm ignoring you."

Hanna groaned. "Ugh! Why are you being so stubborn, Em? Why don't you let the people who care about you the most help you get out of this funk you're in?"

"Because I'm not in a funk!" Emily raised her voice to match Hanna's. "And if you guys really cared about me, then you'd be able to tell that I'm happy, and just be happy for me!"

* * *

Emily was sitting in her easy chair with a cup of tea on the coffee table in front of her, and the basket that held the day's mail in her lap. An oversized golden envelope caught her attention: an invitation to her cousin's wedding in Texas. As if on cue, Emily's phone buzzed, and she rolled her eyes on seeing who it was.

"Hi, Mom," she said, trying to mask the dread in her voice.

"Hi, Emmy. Are you checking the mail?"

Emily forced a smile, knowing where this was leading. "You know me well, Mom."

"Did you get your invitation?"

Emily sighed. "I'm looking at it now."

"It's great, isn't it?"

"Yeah. I'm really happy for Dom."

"Oh, yeah. Sure. But it's great that we'll be seeing you, Emmy. You know, it's been a while."

"I know, Mom. It's just been... really busy... in fact, I'm not even sure that I'll be able to get away for the wedding."

Pam didn't even hear that. She was on her own agenda, as usual. "And, you know, now that you're _single_ , there maybe someone I might want you to meet..." There was a sing-song quality to Pam's voice.

"Mom..."

"She's really cute…" Pam was still literally singing the girl's praises.

"Mom…"

"And single…"

"Mom!"

"Emmy!" Pam's tone got sharp and urgent. "It's been over a year. Don't you think that the statute of limitations on Maya has expired?"

"Mom!" Emily's tone was just as sharp.

"What? Oh, Emily! Are you trying to tell me that you've already found someone new?"

"I..." Emily sighed reisgnedly. "Yes, yes, Mom, that's exactly what I'm trying to tell you." Emily let her hand drop on her lap as she gestured out of frustration, still idly working through her stack of mail.

"Oh, Emmy! I'm so happy for you! Why didn't you tell me?"

"Yeah, well... it's early days."

"And what's this mystery girl's name?" Emily could hear the eagerness in her mother's voice.

"Her name..." Emily hesitated for a moment.

"Or his name! No judgment!"

Emily sighed. " _Her_ name," she said emphatically. Her hand fell onto a gardening catalog that had been delivered to her house by mistake. "Paige McCullers," she blurted out.

"Oooh - McCullers! 'Emily McCullers - ' it does have a nice ring to it!"

"Mom!"

"So, tell me all about her! What's she like?"

"She's just… you know. I don't know." Emily shrugged out of frustration. "The typical… girl, I guess."

"Well, is she short, tall?"

"She's – average."

"Does she have a pretty face?"

" _I_ think so. You know, she's like… the regular, all-American girl."

"Oh – the girl next door type."

"Exactly." Emily bit her lip at how her mother had quite accidentally nailed it. "The girl next door."

"Well, I want to see a picture. Have you put anything on facebook?"

"Not yet, Mom." This was harder than Emily expected. "It's early days!" she repeated.

"Well, Emmy, you need to get a picture of the two of you up on facebook! She's not still in the closet?"

"Mom!"

"Okay, okay, okay. I'll let it go. Oh, I can't wait to meet her, Emmy! Should I tell Dominic to reserve a hotel room for her?"

 _Shit._ Emily hadn't thought of that. "Mom, I..."

"Emily, you know she's welcome to stay at our house. I just thought that might be a little awkward for her... since it's early days?"

"A little awk..." Emily groaned. "Mom, first of all, I told you, I'm not even sure _I_ can go! And, second, if I do go, I'm not going to take Paige. It's too soon to invite her to a family wedding."

"Well, you know, Emily, you're not getting any younger..."

Emily held the phone away from her face and took a deep breath. "What does that even mean?"

"It means that things move a lot faster when you get older. It takes less time to figure out what you want out of a relationship. You know who you are, and you know what you're looking for. You know what they always say - the buses don't run as often after dark, but, when they come, they travel a lot faster..."

"Mom, nobody says that." Emily's voice was flat as her resolve started to break.

"Well," Pam said, drawing out the word, "Maybe if this Paige McCullers doesn't want to come with you, it might be a good opportunity for you to meet someone new!"

Emily scoffed. "Are you seriously trying to break up my relationship?" Emily couldn't believe how offended she was getting over this non-existent relationship.

"I'm just saying, Emmy. It doesn't sound very serious to me. And if this Paige is only interested in a casual relationship, maybe it's time for you to meet someone who might want something a little bit more serious."

"I never said she's not interested in a serious relationship! I said it's early! We haven't been seeing each other very long."

"Well, if she doesn't even want to go to this wedding with you..."

"Mom!" Emily was trying not to yell. "I didn't say that. I haven't even asked her!"

"Well, I don't know why you're getting so upset with me, Emmy! Just ask her!"

"Fine! I'll ask her!" _Wait - What did I just say?_

Pam always had a way of getting to Emily like that. And so, somehow, just to get off of the phone, Emily found herself clutching the gardening catalog that was meant for Paige McCullers, standing at Paige's front doorstep, trying to convince herself that she wasn't insane for doing what she was about to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to thecatfromaliceinwonderland, who supplied the prompt for this story. I've taken a few liberties with her prompt, but, basically, as she summarized it, it's "the fake dating rom-com scenario."I hope I can do it justice.


	2. Meet Paige McCullers

Emily rang the bell and inhaled deeply, trying in vain to steady her breathing. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest. She still couldn't believe what she was about to do.

After what seemed like an unreasonably long wait, the door opened and Emily got an eyeful of Paige, in a spaghetti-strapped wine-red top and striped capri-length pajama pants. The top ended an inch or so above the navel, and the pants hung low around Paige's waist. Emily's eyes took a quick trip down the trail formed by the creases on either side, leading into the striped waistband, before ranging up at the expanse of flesh between the two garments - the obvious result of many hours in the gym.

"I love you, too, Mom," Paige droned into the phone that was pressed up against her ear. She rolled her eyes as she clicked to end the call. Her expression changed as she turned her gaze to Emily. "Thank you," she oozed, reaching for Emily's shoulder with her free hand. "You might not know it, but you just saved me!"

Emily was thrown by this greeting, and by the way Paige looked. For a second, she forgot the speech that she'd prepared.

"Excuse the way I look," Paige said, self-conscious at Emily's silent staring, but powerless to cover herself. Emily quickly moved her eyes up to Paige's, embarrassed at having been caught peeking. "I was just... I... I wasn't expecting any company," Paige said, with a disarmingly charming smile.

"Oh, no... you're fine...uh... I mean, _it's_ fine... I mean..." Emily chuckled nervously. "I just came over to... uh..." She held up the catalog.

"Oh – right! Thanks!"

Emily nodded.

Paige stood awkwardly, half-hiding behind the door.

"Umm... did you want to come in?"

"Oh!" Emily shook her head quickly, to clear her thoughts. "Gosh, I'm sorry. This is a bad time – I can..."

"No, no... don't be silly. I just... uh... Please, come in!" Paige opened the door a bit wider, gesturing with her hand to usher Emily inside.

Emily stepped inside, taking a look at the pictures and furnishings as she did. "Sorry to intrude," she said, handing over the catalog. "I just didn't want to delay handing over this urgent piece of mail!"

Paige laughed, bowing forward in gratitude as she pointed Emily toward the couch. Emily kept her eyes resolutely on Paige's eyes, forbidding them to wander lower as Paige bowed. She took the seat that Paige had offered, and folded her hands in her lap, the way a child who was afraid of saying or doing the wrong thing might do. Paige rolled up the catalog and tapped it slowly against her thigh. The awkwardness was palpable.

"So. Moms, right?" Emily offered gamely.

Paige chuckled, nervously rocking back and forth slightly. "Right. I mean, I love my Mom, don't get me wrong..."

"Oh, I know exactly what you mean!"

Emily tried to be subtle as she peeked at Paige's fingernails. _Damn it, Hanna!_ They looked trim and professional. Emily looked down at her own nails. She could do with a trim. It'd been a while since she needed one.

Emily had been silent too long. "You know what, if you could just give me a second to..." Paige pointed toward her bedroom with her free hand as well as with the one holding the rolled-up catalog.

Emily stood up. "Oh, listen, Paige, I'm so sorry for just barging in like this. I should really get going."

"No, please." Paige smiled hospitably. "At least let me thank you properly for saving me from that phone call. And for this," she said, holding up the catalog in a way that accentuated her the muscles at her shoulder.

Emily sat back down on the couch when Paige stepped out of the room. It was beyond awkward. She reached for a magazine on the coffee table - _Better Homes and Gardens_. She leafed through a couple of pages before putting it back, doing her best to get it in the exact spot and angle at which she had found it. She decided that it wouldn't be too creepy if she took a look around the living room. It would be considerably less creepy, after all, than asking her straight neighbor to fly out to Texas for the weekend and pretend to be her date at a family wedding.

Emily went looking for clues to Paige's sexuality with somewhat mixed emotions. If Paige were straight, then she wouldn't have to embarrass herself and invite her to the wedding. But, on the other hand, if that were true, she would still be on the hook to find a Paige McCullers for the wedding. _Craig's List_ , she thought:

_Would you assume my neighbor's identity and pretend to be my gal-pal for a wedding in Texas? Mum's the word to my Mum. And to my actual neighbor. This isn't nearly as shady as it sounds. Honestly._

Emily noticed some small, framed pictures over the China cabinet: Paige with two young children. Niece and nephew? Children from a previous marriage? That would explain all the China. She got the wedding gifts; her ex got the kids.

Emily heard footsteps. She was caught in-between; she couldn't get back to the couch without making it obvious that she had dashed back there as soon as she heard Paige coming back. But she didn't want to get caught snooping. She reminded herself that she wasn't doing anything wrong and picked up one of those pictures.

"Sorry," Paige said, tugging at the sleeves of the sweater that she had just pulled over her head. Before she could explain why she was delayed, she saw Emily holding the picture. "Oh, I see you've found my little munchkins," she said wistfully. Emily gave a half smile and tilted the picture towards Paige. Paige ran her finger over the little girl's face. "That's Abby, and her baby brother, Brendan." Paige sighed deeply. "They were the hardest thing about the decision to take the job out here." Paige took the picture and put it back in its spot. "But, their mother is doing a lot better now. She's been through rehab and vocational training, so she's back on her feet." Paige looked on the verge of tears. "It's better that they're with their mother," she said, trying to convince herself.

"Their... mother?"

"Yeah. I took them in as a foster mom. I was an only child growing up, so I always wanted to have kids around me."

"How long were they with you?"

"Nineteen months," Paige said. "Just enough time for their mom to get back on her feet. I knew that it was only a temporary arrangement, but..." Paige tilted her head in resignation. "Anyway, it's better that I'm not there anymore. It would've been too much of a distraction for them. They need their real mom."

Emily squeezed Paige's shoulder. "I'm sorry."

Paige forced a smile. "It's okay," she said softly.

"I'm an only child, too." Emily wasn't sure why she said that. She felt a bit foolish for throwing that out, as if she had any way of relating to the pain that Paige was reliving.

"So, you know," Paige said sincerely, and it made Emily feel better.

"Yeah. I mean, I never had kids, but I can imagine."

Paige nodded. She was desperate to lighten the mood. "Hey, what kind of host am I? Sit, please. Can I get you something to drink?"

Emily felt guilty about what she had been plotting to do, now that she had seen this sensitive side of Paige. Her instinct was to run, but she couldn't leave Paige like that, melancholy over her kids. "Maybe just a glass of water," she said as she smoothed out her skirt and took a seat.

Emily heard a cabinet opening and closing in the kitchen. She heard the clink of glasses against the counter, the rumble of the icemaker, and the clink of cubes hitting the glasses. Next she heard liquid splashing over the cubes, another cabinet opening, and then relative silence.

Paige emerged with a tray that held two glasses of water and a plate of something. She set one glass in front of Emily and the other in front of the chair next to the couch.

"Biscotti?"

"Sorry," Paige explained as she took a seat. "They don't really go with water, do they? I was in the mood last night. That's the thing about baking for one - I always have plenty of leftovers!"

"You _baked_ these?"

Paige nodded with a shy smile.

"If I had known, I would've asked for a cappuccino!" Emily was joking, but she had to grab Paige's arm to keep her from getting up and making her one.

Emily moaned as she took a bite. "Oh, God! These are _so_ good!" They would've been perfect with a cappuccino.

Paige smiled shyly. "You should've tasted them fresh out of the oven!"

"I'll give you my number," Emily said through her second bite. "Call me next time."

That drew a laugh out of Paige. Calming down, she said, wistfully, I "That was the great thing about having kids around. I always had someone to bake for."

Emily reached over and stroked Paige's arm sympathetically. Paige shrugged and decided to change the subject. "So, have you lived in Rosewood long?"

"Born and raised!"

"Oh. So you have family nearby?"

"My extended family's actually from Texas. I rarely got to see them growing up. And, when my Dad retired from the Army, he and my Mom moved out there, so..."

"It's just you..."

"Yeah. And, my friends, of course. The guys I grew up with."

Paige smiled weakly. "Well, it's good to be near friends."

Emily felt another wave of guilt over what she had come over to do; that her first visit with her new neighbor was because she had some crazy-assed scheme to recruit her for. "Listen," she said, letting her fingers fall on Paige's wrist. "I'm sorry that I never stopped by earlier. I just..."

"Oh, no. I understand. Don't apologize." Paige picked up her glass and took a sip. "So, do you get out to Texas to see your parents very often?"

 _Funny you should ask._ It would have been the perfect opportunity to raise the subject of the wedding, but, after their conversation and everything that Emily had learned about Paige, she couldn't bring herself to bring it up. Paige had been so friendly and welcoming; it felt as if Emily was using her - which, in fact, was exactly what it was.

So, instead, Emily responded with, "Not as often as I'd like. Have you ever been?"

"Only back in college. We swam against a couple of schools in Texas."

"No way! You're a swimmer? What do you swim?"

"I swam free and back, sprints and relay."

"That's so weird! I swam breaststroke and free."

"Were you anchor? I bet you were anchor!"

Emily nodded shyly. "You too?"

Paige shrugged. "I may have anchored a few races in my day."

They compared notes for a while longer before Emily stood up and stretched. "Well, I'd better get very far away from those biscotti, or I'll need to start back on my training regimen from the days when I was still competing!"

Paige walked her to the door. At the threshold, Emily thanked her. "It was good to have a chance to talk."

"I enjoyed it," Paige replied. "I'll have to return the favor. I've always wondered what that house looks like on the inside."

"Anytime," Emily said enthusiastically. "Feel free to drop in."

Emily waved and smiled as she let herself into her house. She had gone next door hoping for a pretend date, but had left with a real friend.


	3. Indecent Proposal

"So, you didn't ask her?" Hanna asked, after Emily filled her in on her predicament and on her visit with Paige.

"I told you, Hanna," she sighed into the phone. "I just couldn't bring it up. After I got to know her, it seemed, I don't know... wrong, you know?"

"Well, did you, at least, check her nails while you were there?"

"Hanna, I swear to God, I am not getting into this with you!" Emily was too embarrassed to admit that she actually had checked them.

"Whatever," Hanna said wearily. "Anyway, you thought it was _wrong_?" The pitch of her voice went higher. "Emily, you're offering this girl a free trip to San Antonio and a smoking hot date!"

"Hanna..."

"And a wedding reception! In San Antonio!" she repeated. "Tex-Mex! Hell, I'll go with you, Em! I could dye my hair and change my make up! Pam and Wayne would never recognize me!"

"Yeah. Right." Emily's tone shifted. "Look, Hanna, If you really want to help me..."

"... and you know I do" There was no way Hanna could resist a role in this caper.

"Well, I was thinking that I could invite Paige out to coffee or something. You know, to introduce her to one of my friends, since she doesn't really know anybody out here. Then, we can just casually start talking about the wedding, and you could make a joke about my needing a date... we'll all laugh, but later, when it's just the two of us, maybe she'll take the hint?"

"Emily..."

"What? You don't think it'll work?"

"Why don't you just ask her?"

"Not everybody's like you, Hanna! We can't just throw things out there without any regard for other people's feelings!"

"Wow - you didn't have any problem throwing _that_ out there!"

"Hanna..." Emily begged.

"Yeah, fine, I'll do it," she droned. "Whatever you need."

* * *

Emily tapped her index finger against the plate of ginger snaps that she was carrying. When the doorknob twisted, she fashioned a smile. "Hi, neighbor!" Emily handed Paige the plate, confessing that she wasn't as good a baker as Paige.

Paige thanked her and invited her in, but she declined. "I'm actually on my way out. I just wanted to say thanks - and a very belated welcome to the neighborhood."

"Okay, well, thank _you_. These look great."

"And... um, also, I was wondering whether you would like to join me and my friend, Hanna, for coffee sometime. We usually try to get together on Saturday mornings, and we'd love to get to know you?"

"That sounds great," Paige said with a warm smile. "Hanna's the blonde? Really bubbly?" Emily nodded. "I'd love that. Thanks for the invitation."

"Okay, great!" Emily was trying to keep her nerves in check. "So, we'll leave at about 10:30? I'll stop by?"

"Perfect. I'm looking forward to it."

"Perfect," Emily echoed. She stood still for a moment, then started to turn, but stopped abruptly. All of a sudden, it seemed a cruel trick, to pretend to be introducing Paige to her friend, only to try to cajole her into agreeing to be a fake date. Hanna was right about the need to be direct. If high school had taught Emily anything, it was that lying was not a great strategy, over the long term.

"Listen," she said with a heavy sigh. "I really do want you to get to know Hanna - well, all of my friends - but I have a confession to make."

"Okay..." Paige eyed her, a bit afraid of what was coming next.

"I..." Emily let her shoulders drop with deep sigh. "Actually, do you have a minute?"

Paige nodded, using the plate of cookies to gesture Emily inside, towards the couch. Emily smiled nervously and headed over.

Paige set the plate of cookies on the coffee table and sat back, intertwining her fingers, bracing herself for the worst.

"Okay, first, let me just apologize for what I'm about to say. And I really do want to get to know you better, and I really do want to introduce you to my friends, I swear. But I'll understand if you don't want anything to do with me after you hear what I'm about to say."

"Sounds serious!" Paige tried to laugh it off, but she was almost terrified about whatever it was that Emily was about to say.

"Well, when I came by yesterday, it wasn't just to give you that catalog."

Emily cringed, barely looking up as told Paige about the wedding, about how she didn't want to go through the whole fix-up thing with her family, and how her eyes had fallen on Paige's name when she needed a name to give her mother.

Paige's brow was furrowed in contemplation as she took everything in. Emily never posed the question, leaving it to Paige to put the pieces together. "So... you're saying that you... want me..."

Emily started to get up. Hearing Paige struggle over the words made her realize how crazy the idea was. _Why did I ask Hanna's advice instead of Spencer's or Aria's?_ Emily knew the answer. She knew that Spencer and Aria would have told her that the idea was insane and would have talked her out of it. She had asked Hanna because she wanted someone to support her insanity. But, there, in the middle of Paige's living room, Emily realized that it would've been better to have had the idea shot down before she put herself – and Paige – through this.

"You know what? This is crazy - just forget that I said anything. I... hope you don't hate us - me."

Paige sat still, still processing things. Emily hesitated before she took a step toward the door. "I'll just go. I'm so sorry, Paige."

Paige stood up, touching Emily's arm to stop her. She shrugged weakly. "I'll do it."

Emily looked at her, confused. "Paige, really..."

"I'll do it," Paige repeated. "Hey – I know what it's like to have a mom desperate to get me married."

Emily sighed, letting her shoulders drop. "Paige, seriously. I couldn't ask you to do this."

"It's no big deal," Paige said with a friendly smile.

"I… uh… You're sure?" Emily stooped into a vulnerable position.

"I'm sure." Paige took a breath. "Is your family going to expect me to dress like a guy?"

Emily shook her head. "Whatever you're comfortable with, really." Emily still couldn't believe that Paige was willing to do it.

"And, umm... as far as... PDA..."

"Oh." Emily sat down.

"I mean, I know they're going to expect me – _us_ – to be... close, physically, but... when it comes to..."

"Maybe kisses on the cheek?" Emily offered tentatively, not wanting Paige to wriggle off the hook.

Paige shrugged. "Okay. I mean – no big deal. We can play it by ear."

"Sorry, Paige." Emily chuckled. "I... I didn't think this through."

"No, no. It's fine. I mean, we're all adults here, right?"

"Right," Emily agreed, weakly, feeling like whatever the opposite of an adult was right at that moment. "Plus, I told my Mom it's early days between us, so..."

"Right... so, we're still in that affectionate, touchy phase."

"No, that's not what I meant, Paige. I was just going to say that, you know... She's not going to expect us to be _too_ physical. And she said She'd reserve a hotel room for you," she blurted out quickly. "So, you know, you don't have to stay in the house with me. She thought it might be too much pressure on you, to stay with my parents since... early days."

"Oh, yeah. I get it. And we won't have to answer those 'Who sleeps on which side of the bed?' questions." Emily's eyes widened at this. "Sorry – bad joke. But, I guess, I _will_ need to learn some more about you."

"And I have to learn about you."

"Good thing we're going for coffee on Saturday," Paige observed.

"Yeah." Emily stood to leave, and Paige joined her. Emily gave her a hug. "Thank you, so much" She could feel Paige tense up at her touch. Emily realized that she had not only sprung the wedding thing on Paige, but also the fact that she was gay. As she backed away, she looked Paige dead in the eye. "You're absolutely sure that you're okay with this?"

Paige gave her that easy smile again. "It might even be fun. From what I've heard, San Antonio is lovely."

"Yeah!" Emily picked up on that thread eagerly. "We could even head out there a couple of days early, and I could show you around..." Emily stopped abruptly, realizing that she was getting ahead of herself. "Well, we'll play it by ear." She squeezed Paige's shoulder. It wasn't the first time she'd done that, but it was the first time that it felt so awkward.

There was a mirror hanging over a settee in the entryway, and it reminded Emily. "Oh, one more thing." Emily gave Paige a timid look. Paige smiled timidly back at her. "I… uh… my Mom asked me about a picture. Whether I could post one on facebook. Would that be okay?" Emily's voice softened almost to a whisper by the end of the question. "I wouldn't tag you, or anything, so you wouldn't have to explain anything to your friends…"

Paige shrugged her shoulders. "Sure, Emily."

Emily pulled out her phone and stood next to Paige, putting her arm across Paige's shoulders. Paige mirrored the gesture, at first holding her hand up in space, then tentatively tapping it on Emily's shoulder once or twice before she finally let it settle there. They smiled into the mirror as Emily snapped the picture.

"Great," Emily said over the obvious tension as she checked the picture and gave Paige a look at it. "So, I'll see you Saturday, I guess."

* * *

Emily was trembling as she headed to her car. On the drive to the gym, she filled Hanna in, confessing her guilt and relief over how the discussion went.

"Oh, Emily, quit worrying! It'll be fun! What if it ends up being like one of those Hallmark movies, where you find _romance_?" Hanna emphasized the last word, playfully.

"Okay, first off, Hanna, what do you think the odds are that two women who live next door to each other, who are both only children and both ex-swimmers are also both lesbians?"

"One in 3.7 billion," Hanna said plainly.

"One in... what?"

"But it's only one in 1.7 billion if she's bi."

"Hanna, where did you come up with that?"

"From Spencer, duh!"

"You told Spencer?"

"Well, yeah! You weren't picking up the phone, and I had to talk to someone!"

"Okay, so, you see my point. There's almost no chance that she's into girls."

"Yeah, and there's almost no chance that you live next door to an only child ex-swimmer, too, but that happened!"

Emily started to tune Hanna out as Hanna pressed her case for Paige's potential lesbianship. Hanna, after all, hadn't been there to see how awkward it was when Emily hugged Paige.

Emily began to worry about Hanna's lack of a filter and her abundance of curiosity. Emily was just as curious about whether her fake girlfriend was faking more than being in a relationship; the difference was, Emily wouldn't ask, say, or do anything inappropriate that would potentially scare Paige off, and it was pretty much guaranteed that Hanna would. Emily decided that she would rather not know than make Paige uncomfortable. For that reason, and also because they only had about a month to get to know each other before the wedding, she and Paige decided to postpone the coffees with Hanna. Until the wedding, it would be just the two of them, using the time to get to know each other and to get comfortable with each other.


	4. Getting to Know You

"So, that's a soy cappuccino, skim, dash of cinnamon - got it!" Paige closed her eyes as she rattled off the order, committing it to memory. She felt that Emily's order was something she should know . "You find a table. I'll take care of the order."

"Okay. Do you want some cash?"

Paige shook her head. "You can pay next time."

Emily found a table and stood, waiting for Paige to turn around. When she did, Emily waved at her, taking a seat after Paige waved back to acknowledge that she had seen her. Paige came over a couple of minutes later with their drinks and a nervous smile.

"So," she said as she sat down, "I guess I should know about your dating history?"

 _Okay... we're jumping right in._ "Okay." Emily tilted her head back as she thought about how to begin. "Well, my first relationship was a girl named Maya. We dated in high school but..."

"High school relationship?" Paige asked knowingly.

"Well, I wouldn't put it down to that. Not _just_ that, I guess. We burned really hot for a while." Emily shook her head without realizing it, a little embarrassed at the memory of some of the things she and Maya had gotten into at a young age. "But, in the end... we were different people. Too different." Paige nodded. "My parents were not sorry to see Maya go, by the way."

"Okay, so... Maya." Paige appeared to be making a mental list.

"Maya. And then a string of mistakes through high school that... aren't worth getting into. And then, I met Sabrina in college. We dated for almost two years, but..."

Paige reached across the table for Emily's wrist. She could see how hard it was for her to talk about Sabrina.

"So, she was your last girlfriend?"

Emily wiped her eyes with her napkin. "Whoo! Sorry - I... I don't know where that came from."

"Is there any hope that you two will..." Paige let it drop.

Emily tightened her lips against each other to collect herself. "It wasn't meant to be. We stuck it out for longer than we should've. You know how it goes. She's a nice person, and I'd like to think that I'm a nice person, but... sometimes, that's not enough, you know?"

Paige squeezed Emily's wrist. "I know."

"Plus, Maya and I had a little... fling afterwards. It was totally a rebound thing. She ended up back in Rosewood, time had a way of making me forget all the bad stuff... Long story short, it was a huge mistake and a messy break-up, and I ended up swearing off relationships when it was all over."

Paige reeled in her seat. She didn't know quite what to make of all this. "So, is she still in Rosewood?" she asked, feeling the need to say something.

Emily collected herself. "No," she said flatly. "Her company shipped her off to a druggie-rehab camp in California."

"Wow!"

"As a counselor," Emily added quickly, realizing what Paige must've thought. "She's a licensed therapist."

Paige nodded her head slowly, as if she were still trying to process all of this information and file it away.

Emily took her cappuccino in both hands, shaking her head. "Ahhh," she said, after a nice long gulp, trying to swallow her emotions. "Anyway. Enough of... that." She swiped her hands in front of her, as if swiping the discussion away. "How about you?" This was working out. Emily was finally going to know whether Paige was into girls or just open-minded.

Paige shrugged, non-committal. "There's not much to tell, really. I mean, I never really dated."

"Never?" Emily looked at her skeptically. Paige shrugged. "I find that hard to believe, Paige. A girl like you? They must've been lining up at your door."

Paige dipped her head. "I don't know about that. But, you know. I was just really... focused when I was in school - focused on academics, focused on getting a sports scholarship to Stanford, focused on keeping myself afloat once I got to Stanford. I didn't really have time for much else. Certainly not a relationship." Paige chuckled at the irony. "I guess this is my first real relationship, and it's fake!"

Emily laughed, because she was supposed to. Still, she had to wonder what Paige was keeping buried.

* * *

On the walk home, Paige rubbed the back of her neck and spoke haltingly. "I... uh... I... suppose we should probably... get a feel for... holding hands?" After the hour or so that it took her to push out those words, she spewed the rest of her thoughts in a millisecond: "So that it doesn't look forced or awkward when we do it at the wedding."

Emily smiled and extended her hand, not sure what the big deal was. Paige reached for it. She grabbed the back of it. She switched to the front of it. Then, she tried to interlace their fingers.

Awkward didn't even begin to describe it.

_Has Paige never held hands before?_

Then, it hit her. Paige had never held a girl's hand before.

"Are you okay with this?" Emily asked, scanning around to indicate that she was referring to the fact that they were in public.

"Oh, yeah, yeah!" Paige relaxed her shoulders. "Sorry – this feels really awkward, doesn't it?"

"Good thing it's just a practice run!" Emily was trying to use humor to lighten the mood, but Paige nodded her head as if Emily were being serious.

After a few awkward paces, Emily decided to try something different. "Here," she said, wrapping her arm around Paige's waist. "Let's try the advanced class." Paige felt a little stiff, so Emily added, "If that's okay?"

"Oh, sure. Of course." Paige put her arm around Emily's waist, and, soon, they found a rhythm.

There's a funny thing about body language. It plays tricks with the mind. Emily forgot herself as they had walked along for a bit, and let her head rest on Paige's shoulder. She didn't realize that she had done it until she felt a gulp make its way down Paige's windpipe. But, Paige didn't recoil, so Emily let her head stay there for a few more paces, lifting it and standing on her own again at a point where it wasn't so obvious that she was backing off in response to Paige's obvious discomfort.

Mercifully, they made it back to their houses. Paige walked Emily to her door. "Well, that wasn't _too_ awkward," she joked.

"Not nearly as awkward as dancing's going to be," Emily responded.

Paige did the thing where she rubbed the back of her neck again. "Yeah... about that... I'm not really much of a dancer."

Emily smiled. "Well, I'd be glad to give you lessons."

"Oh." Paige stepped back, waiting for Emily to unlock the door. "Great!"

Emily caught up with what Paige was thinking. "Oh - did you mean... now?"

"Oh, God! I'm sorry! - I thought you were talking about..." Paige dipped her head, shaking it in embarrassment.

"No! Now's good actually!" Emily put a hand on Paige's shoulder, with a smile to let her know that everything was okay.

They stepped inside, and Paige took a quick look around the house that Emily had grown up in. "Nice!" she said, drawing out the word as she pivoted at the waist. "I like what you've done with the place!"

"What my parents did, more like..."

Emily ushered Paige into the living room and offered her something to drink, which Paige declined. Emily pushed back the coffee table and kicked off her shoes. Paige picked up on the cue and took a seat to untie and remove her shoes.

Emily stood in front of Paige, smiling when Paige stood up. "Now," she said, "I'm used to leading, since I've usually been the taller one, but, since we're about the same size, I'll let you choose, whichever you're more comfortable with."

Paige didn't say anything. She just pleaded with her eyes.

"Oh. Okay. Well, here." Emily put Paige's hand on her waist and her hand on Paige's shoulder. She held Paige's right hand. "Basically, you just count and step."

They danced around in near-silence for a while, Emily counting "1-2-3," as Paige mouthed along.

"Now, if it's a slow dance," Emily said, slowing her words to match the slow pace, "you'd hold me closer." Emily switched their grips for the slow dance and pulled herself closer - close enough to feel the racing of Paige's heart.

_Oh, God. What have I gotten this poor girl into?_

"I... uh... I think you've got the hang of it," Emily said, disengaging herself from her dance partner. She gave Paige an apologetic smile.

"Yeah. I think I'm getting it," Paige agreed. And, there was the hand on the back of her neck. "Thanks, Emily... – Em." She hastily added the affectionate version of the name, having learned that it's what people who are close to Emily use.

"Thank _you,_ " Emily corrected. She leaned in, oblivious to the look of panic on Paige's face, and kissed her on the cheek.

"Oh, right." Paige, panicking at the thought that Emily was going to move on to the stage of practice-kissing, realized that Emily only wanted her to get used to thank-you kisses on the cheek. She realized she'd better practice giving them, too. She leaned in as Emily was leaning the other way, and her lips landed on Emily's instead. Her eyes were closed, and it took her a moment to realize what she had ended up kissing. When she realized, she backed away, her face as bright as a glass of Rosé. "Oh my God!"

"Paige?"

Paige backed up, running into the couch on her way to the door. "I should probably..." She managed to unlatch the door and exit before Emily could point out that she had forgotten her shoes.

Emily stood in front of her couch, Paige's shoes in one hand, the other hand on her hip. She thought better of taking the shoes next door right at that moment. Paige obviously needed to cool off first.

Emily was confused. She didn't know whether or not Paige had meant to kiss her on the lips. She couldn't figure out why Paige, who had never appeared shy before, had all of a sudden become a nervous wreck, starting from the moment when they held hands.

* * *

"She's obviously straight," Emily said into her phone, from the window seat. "And, not just straight – she must come from a background where they condition you to think that, if a girl kisses a girl, she's going to burn in Hell for all eternity!"

"Or, you're working your Emily Fields magic on her," Hanna retorted. "How many lesbians have you left knock-kneed and quivering in your wake? And I wasn't even trying to be sexual when I said that!"


	5. Faking It

On Sunday morning, Emily headed next door to Paige's house, holding a plastic shopping bag with Paige's running shoes inside. She tapped her foot on the porch - nerves, not impatience, as she waited for Paige to answer the bell. Emily reminded herself to put a smile on her face when she heard the sound of the tumblers shifting in the lock. Paige opened the door hesitantly, using it as a shield. Emily's expression shifted to worried. "Hi," she said, trying to be pleasant.

"Hello," Paige said nervously, nodding her shoulders along with her head.

"I thought you might need these..." Emily had decided to forgo the Cinderella joke that she had planned to make when she handed over Paige's shoes. She read Paige's body language, and decided that the joke might not be a good idea after all. Anyway, Emily was no Prince Charming. And Paige didn't need to be reminded of the way that she ran off after a night of dancing and a kiss.

Emily just hoped that Paige wouldn't turn into a pumpkin when the wedding rolled around.

"Oh, yeah. Thanks. I..." Paige emerged from the shadow of the door and accepted the bag, wrapping it in her arms as she held it protectively in front of her chest. "Would you like to come in?"

Emily wasn't sure how to respond to that.

"If this isn't a bad time?"

"No." Paige stepped aside to let Emily in. She was smiling, albeit faintly, for the first time that day. "It's actually a good time for me to apologize for yesterday."

Emily wasn't sure what the apology was going to be for: the accidental kiss, or the mad dash that followed it.

Emily touched Paige's shoulder, relieved that Paige didn't recoil or freak out at the contact. "No, Paige. I'm sorry. Look, I never should've asked you to... It's not worth losing our friendship over. I mean, we hardly know each other, but I'd like to think that we could become friends." Emily could hear herself rambling. She tried to reel it in. "Anyway, it was a stupid plan on my part. Well, not even a plan, so much as a..."

"Em." Paige interrupted Emily's babbling. "It's not a stupid plan. I just needed some time to... process everything. But I'm still game to come along and be your beard!"

Paige's smile looked genuine. Emily shook her head. "No. It was wrong of me to ask you. Seriously, it's not your problem. Don't worry," she said with a faint smile. "I'll figure something out."

Paige moved in closer. "Would you let me do this for you, please? I feel really bad about how I behaved yesterday. And, you're right: We could be good friends. And friends help each other out, right?" Emily bit her bottom lip contemplatively but didn't say anything. Paige dipped her head. "Please?"

Emily sighed. With a shrug of her shoulders, she said, "Oh what the hell? What's the worst that could happen?" Before she knew it, Paige was hugging her.

"See?" Paige remarked, her hands still on Emily's shoulders, "I'm getting better!"

* * *

After a cup of coffee and some homemade scones, Emily left Paige's house, just as confused as when she came. She still didn't know whether things were weird because Paige felt uncomfortable about pretending she was gay or uncomfortable about being affectionate with someone she hardly knew. She didn't even know which of those two scenarios she wanted to be true.

But, the more time that she spent with Paige, the more convinced she was that Paige was straight. First of all, the odds against her being gay were, as Hanna had quoted them, astronomical. And, if Paige _were_ gay, wouldn't she have let Emily know?

Emily made Hanna swear not to say anything to Paige. She knew how Hanna operated, with her less-than-subtle innuendo and her "clever" traps. Paige didn't need that kind of stress, and neither did Emily.

* * *

As the wedding approached, Emily and Paige got to be a lot more comfortable together - both in their relationship as friends, and in their fake relationship as girlfriends. Holding hands was no longer awkward, nor were the good-bye kisses - all of which were on the cheek.

"So, things are moving along nicely with your 'fake' date."

"Hanna," Spencer droned wearily, "You don't need to do the air quotes when you actually say the word, 'fake.'"

"Uh, no..." Hanna insisted, "The quotes were for 'fake.' 'Cause her relationship's about as fake as my tits. Or your genius. Or Emily's smile, whenever her 'fake' girlfriend shows up!"

"Hanna, you're being ridiculous!" Emily whined. "You know that Paige and I are just pretending. And, besides, I'm pretty sure she's not even into girls!"

"Yeah, now who's being ridiculous?" Hanna asked, her voice extra deep and over-the-top. Before Emily could defend herself, Hanna raised a hand to silence her. "Seriously, Em? What kind of straight girl agrees to pretend to be the girlfriend of someone she just met? And spends weeks rehearsing?"

Emily looked to Spencer and Aria for support. Spencer just shrugged, conceding Hanna's point. Aria said, "Maybe she's confused?"

"Oh, and by the way," Hanna continued, "you do realize that kisses on the cheek aren't going to fool Pam Fields!"

Emily groaned. "Maybe? I mean, it's either believe that we're dating, or believe that I recruited someone to fly out to San Antonio and pretend to be my girlfriend? Which seems more likely?"

"Yeah. Well, that might fool your dad, and it might fool the cousins and the grandparents, but when it comes to..."

"I know, I know." Emily interrupted with a sigh. "We'll work on it."

"Yeah. Work on kissing. With your 'straight,' 'fake' girlfriend." Hanna looked right at Spencer as she made even more exaggerated air quotes.

* * *

"How do you feel?" Emily asked after what she felt was a successful dance lesson.

"I think I'm making progress." Paige tilted her head, seeking confirmation. "I don't know - _am_ I making progress?"

"Absolutely!" They were just about a week away from flying out to San Antonio, and Paige was dancing like a champ. "I think you're ready!"

Paige dipped her head. Emily's stomach dipped with it. She'd come to expect and appreciate that move, in their weeks of working together. "I've been practicing," Paige admitted, with a sense of pride.

Emily took a swig of water from her bottle. She was glad that Paige was on a confidence-high for what she had to ask her next. "Paige," she began, her words forced and hesitant, "I would never ask you to do anything that doesn't feel right to you, but... I think - well, Hanna said - that it would probably be more believable that you're my... that we're... together... if, when we kiss... not all of the time, but sometimes... if we... on the... you know... instead of just on the cheek."

Emily peeked up at Paige, who was in the middle of taking in a calming breath. She grabbed Emily's biceps, abruptly and awkwardly, and leaned in. As Emily closed her eyes, she felt Paige back away. "I've been practicing," she said with a nervous chuckle before she leaned in the rest of the way.

Paige's lips felt soft and welcoming as they molded themselves against Emily's. It wasn't like a piledriver; more like an inviting pillow, after a long, wearying day. Emily fought every instinct to moan as she began losing herself in the kiss. She knew that the kiss was awkward enough for Paige without that added reaction.

Emily heard the faint question, "Was that okay?" The kiss had left her a little stunned. Faced with her silence, Paige began to lose her nerve. She released Emily from her arms. "Emily?"

"Huh? What?"

"Do you think that will be okay? Or will they be expecting more?"

Paige began to lean in again, her eyes closed and her lips slightly parted this time, but Emily pushed her away. As curious as she was about what Paige's A-game kisses were like, she couldn't let herself take advantage of the situation. Part of her, though, wished that she could be more like Hanna for about 30 seconds - or however long it would take Paige to demonstrate her A-game kiss. Hanna would have let Paige go through with the kiss without giving it a second thought.

But, the fact of the matter was, not only was Emily not like Hanna, but she was also still reeling from that first kiss. If Paige stepped it up a notch, Emily didn't know what she would do. But she was pretty sure that she'd need to change clothes.

"It's fine, Paige. That was... fine." Emily was starting to feel a bit flush. She put it down to nerves, not arousal. Her speech was stilted, and her brain couldn't seem to come up with any adjective other than "fine." From the look on Paige's face, though, that word was enough. Paige had the look of a kid in grade school, swollen with pride because the teacher congratulated her for finally figuring out how osmosis worked.

"Could you excuse me, for a minute?"

Emily walked quickly to the bathroom and fanned herself with her hand. She leaned over the sink for a moment, getting a tight grip on its sides, before she splashed cold water on her face, staring at her reflection in guilt and disbelief.

This couldn't be happening. She couldn't be falling for Paige McCullers.


	6. Meeting Pam and Wayne

The dynamic between Paige and Emily shifted after that kiss. Paige, once she got over that hurdle, began to feel more relaxed and comfortable with the physical aspect of their pretend relationship, whereas Emily, saddled with the unexpected but undeniable feelings that she was developing for Paige, became tentative and weird around her.

Emily struggled with her feelings even more because she couldn't share them with anyone. She knew how Hanna would react; Hanna would be over the moon, and would probably spill the beans to Paige, in the misguided belief that doing so would somehow help get the two of them together. And Emily couldn't tell Spencer or Aria, because the whole thing was just too embarrassing. Emily knew that their relationship was fake; temporary. She knew that Paige was only doing her a huge favor. She didn't need her friends to tell her how foolish she was being - or to tell her that she needed to shut it down, before somebody got hurt.

And it was too late to shut things down anyway. Pam Fields was eagerly awaiting the opportunity to meet her daughter's new girlfriend. The tickets, the hotel room, and the dinners for the reception had already been reserved. There was no going back.

* * *

"Nervous?"

Emily smiled slightly and nodded. Paige gave her a side-hug and a kiss on the cheek.

One of the consequences of all the time that they had spent getting to know each other was that they had really gotten to know each other. So, Paige was able to pick up on the fact that Emily was nervous as they stood in line to check in for their flight. And they had gotten so comfortable together that Paige didn't even have to think about the hug and kiss. Or about standing behind Emily and gently massaging her shoulders as they waited.

They almost even looked like a real couple.

Emily was so angry with herself. She and Paige had a good friendship. Why was she letting herself make out that it was more than that? But more than angry, she was worried about what would happen after the wedding. Would they still find time for each other? And, what if Emily slipped up at the wedding, and Paige found out about her true feelings? Would Paige ever forgive her?

"You're really tense!"

Paige thought that the shoulder massage would help, but, in reality, it was only making things worse for Emily and her damned feelings.

Emily knew that she had to get it together - for Paige's sake and for her family's sake. She swiveled her head back and smiled at Paige, putting her hand on top of Paige's, on her shoulder. "I'm fine," she assured her. She determined that she was going to be. Gradually, she found herself relaxing into the situation.

During their layover in Chicago, Emily, exhausted, grabbed Paige's arm and put her head on Paige's shoulder for a nap. Paige didn't bat an eye. She just reached around with her free arm and gave Emily a comforting squeeze.

* * *

Emily drove the rental car to her parents' house, pointing out a few landmarks along the way. Paige was taking it all in, asking questions and taking some pictures. She was good company, Emily realized. She wouldn't mind traveling with Paige more often.

Emily pulled into her parents' driveway and took her bags out of the trunk. Paige took them from there. The two of them walked hand-in-hand to the door, though neither of them really noticed that they were doing it.

Pam greeted Emily with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "How was your trip?" she asked perfunctorily, but immediately turned her attention to Paige. "Aww - and you must be Paige," she said, trying in vain to hide her excitement.

Paige stooped down a bit to hug her. "Pleased to meet you, Mrs. Fields."

"Oh, you!" Pam slapped Paige's shoulder, looking over at Emily. "She's so formal!" Pam looked back to Paige. "Please. Call me Pam!"

"That's what Emily said," Paige said with an relaxed smile, "but I didn't believe her."

"Come in, come in," Pam beckoned, backing away from the door to allow them entry.

Emily took her bags from Paige and put them off to the side. She gave Paige a smile, to make sure that she was okay. Paige smiled back, with a wink.

"I was just puttering around in the kitchen," Pam continued. "Paige, I hear you're quite the baker. Maybe you can give me some pointers!"

"Mom!"

"It's okay," Paige said with a smile, quickly pressing her lips to Emily's before she set off with Pam. The kiss felt so natural that Emily wouldn't even have noticed that Paige had done it, had it not been for the adoring way that her mother was smiling at them.

Emily wandered around the living room with her hands on her hips, taking inventory of changes that her parents had made since the last time she was there, occasionally picking up a picture or a knickknack and examining it. She wanted to give Pam and Paige their space, but she wanted to stay near enough to intervene, if Paige needed her to.

She needn't have worried. She heard a steady stream of chatter from the kitchen, mostly Pam's voice and Paige's shy chuckles. Occasionally, Pam would call out to Emily, with news about one of their relatives or family friends, or with a question about Rosewood and her friends back there.

After about a half hour, Emily trudged into the kitchen. "Mom," she half-whined, "we still have to get Paige checked in at the hotel!"

"Oh!" Pam looked at the clock. "Where did the time go?" Squeezing Paige's cheeks, she added, "I was just having so much fun getting to know your girlfriend!" Pam looked at Emily slyly. Emily had told her repeatedly that she and Paige were in the early stages of their relationship, so Pam threw the "G" word out there to see how they would react to it. They both took it in stride. Emily had pre-briefed Paige to prepare her for that kind of trick from her mother.

* * *

"Sorry," Emily said on the way to the hotel, pushing the hair away from her face. "My Mom's just excited to see me in a relationship," she explained with a shrug - whipping her head toward Paige when she remembered that she wasn't actually in a relationship. "I mean - she _thinks_..."

"I know what you mean, Em. And it's fine. Your mom's fine."

But it wasn't fine. Not for Emily, at least. She was getting a little too comfortable in this deception. It was one thing to lie to her family, but Emily couldn't afford to lie to herself.

"Now, we're probably going to run into some of my relatives at the hotel," Emily warned apologetically. "I think they reserved like 80 rooms."

"Okay," Paige said, smiling pleasantly.

"Sorry - I'm sorry that you have to stay there by yourself."

"It's fine," Paige said, still smiling.

"I know, but, if you run into them at breakfast and they recognize you, they'll probably have a million questions." Emily scrunched her face sympathetically. "You shouldn't have to face that alone."

Paige put her hand on Emily's knee. "Em, I'll be okay."

Emily, on reflex, put her hand on top of Paige's, and, when she did, Paige turned her hand over, so that they were holding hands.

Emily pointed the louvers of the air conditioner up at her face. It was certainly getting hot, there in San Antonio.

* * *

As Emily predicted, they ran into one of her cousins and his wife at check-in.

"Emily!"

"Hi, Mark!" Emily accepted the quick hug and hugged her cousin's wife. "Mark, Andrea, this is Paige." Mark went to hug Paige, giving Emily a look for confirmation, before he said the wrong thing. "My girlfriend," Emily added, to remove any doubt.

"Paige!" Mark said enthusiastically. "Welcome to the family!"

Emily rolled her eyes and smacked Mark on the shoulder. "Don't mind him," she told Paige.

"I'm still trying to get him housebroken," Andrea said as she switched places with her husband and hugged Paige.

The four of them shared some small talk in the elevator. When they got to their floor, Mark and Andrea headed to the far end of the hall, a few doors down from Paige's room.

Emily saw Paige inside and sat next to her on the bed. "Are you okay?"

Paige hugged Emily from the side. "Why wouldn't I be?" she asked, laughing.

"I know it's a lot." Emily was talking about all of the pretending, but she couldn't help thinking that it was the kind of thing that she would have said to a real girlfriend who was meeting her extended family for the first time.

"I'm fine," Paige assured her. There was that easy smile again. Emily turned her head, looking down at the mattress. Paige didn't know what that smile was doing to her.

* * *

Paige quickly settled into her room before they had to head back to the house for dinner with Emily's parents.

There was an air of easy grace around Paige at dinner. Pam and Wayne kept shooting Emily subtle looks of admiration and approval, and, each time, Emily's heart swelled.

"Oh, Emmy," Pam said as she passed a dish of mashed potatoes to her husband, "I talked to Dominic. He and Sheena feel just awful that they couldn't have you as one of the bridesmaids."

"It's fine, Mom." Emily stretched out the syllable of "fine," to let Pam know that she really wasn't bothered by it.

"They just thought that it would be awkward for Paige, you know." Pam smiled sadly in Paige's direction. "She'd have to sit by herself, because we'd all be at the head table. And Paige wouldn't know anybody at her table."

"Actually," Paige said, giving Emily a sly smirk, "it might've been worth it, if it meant I'd get to see Emily in one of those hideous bridesmaid's dresses!"

Emily kneed Paige under the table. "Oh, be quiet!"

Pam smiled at Wayne at what a cute couple the girls made.

"Anyway," Pam continued, "now, Samara is the odd man out. Or, odd _woman_ out, I guess."

Emily rolled her eyes, explaining to Paige, "That was my Mom's grand scheme. Fix me up with Samara, and, with any luck, pretty soon, she'd have another wedding to go to."

Pam lowered her head, guiltily. "Well, to be fair, Emmy was still keeping you a secret from us," she explained to Paige.

Paige gasped in mock shock. "You didn't tell them, _Emmy_?" Paige smirked at this new pet name that she had picked up on from Pam.

Emily shot Paige a dirty look. "Ha ha."

Wayne looked between the two of them and winked at Pam. "You might get that second wedding sooner than you think, Mom!"

There was no fake in the gasp that Emily let out. "Daddy!" Emily peeked over at Paige, but she was rolling with it, laughing at Emily's embarrassment.

* * *

"I'm sorry about my parents," Emily said as she walked to the elevator with Paige.

"No problem," Paige said with a smile. "That's what I'm here for!"

_Oh yeah._

Emily quickly let go of Paige's arm at the reminder that this was all make-believe. Paige was just playing the part of the perfect girlfriend. Emily knew that. Of course she did. She just seemed to be having a hard time remembering it.


	7. The Moment

The wedding was the first grown-up event that Emily ever attended with a date. And, even though it was a fake date, it felt great to have Paige with her; someone to share the moments with, someone whose arm she could squeeze when she got excited. Paige seemed genuinely interested as Emily filled her in on the relationships and back-stories of the guests, as they entered the chapel.

Emily squeezed Paige's hand, trying not to cry, as the couple exchanged their vows. It didn't feel inappropriate. She would have done the same with Hanna, had it been Hanna sitting next to her. And Paige didn't seem bothered by it.

After the ceremony, the guests who were staying for the reception milled around on the lawn outside of the reception hall, waiting as the couple and the wedding party took pictures. Emily got pulled away for a bit, occasionally looking over to check on Paige, who was idly fanning herself with the wedding program, flashing smiles at people who passed by and greeted her. When her uncle Frank waddled tipsily over to Paige and lingered, Emily hastily excused herself from the conversation and zoomed over to her rescue.

"Hi, Uncle Frank," she said as she looped her arm with Paige's. "I see you've met Paige."

"How do you do, Emily?" Uncle Frank almost tumbled over as he bowed theatrically. "I was just getting to know your friend."

Emily patted Paige's stomach. "Well, I'm going to have to steal her away for a minute," she said with a weak smile. Paige gave Uncle Frank a quick wave as Emily tugged her away.

"What do you say we try to find that open bar?"

* * *

As the reception got going, Emily was glad that she was sitting with Paige and not at the head table. She was feeling protective of Paige, even though Paige was holding her own among the younger cousins and friends seated around the table. They shared their meet-up story; how Emily used to see Paige out working in the garden and finally plucked up the courage to go over and introduce herself, using a mis-delivered catalog as her excuse. Their first date was supposed to be coffee with Hanna, but Emily convinced Hanna to cancel. Their first kiss was awkward, but, gradually, they found their groove.

The story was based on reality. It was easier to keep it straight that way.

As the afternoon faded into evening and evening into night, the reception progressed through the litany of rituals: The introduction of the couple, the toasts, the bride's dance with her father, the couple's first dance as husband and wife. Emily found herself getting incredibly sentimental over everything. No doubt, the wine helped.

Emily was clinging to Paige when they opened up the dance floor to all of the guests. The DJ was playing slow songs, keeping it romantic for the couple. The sultry music, the dim lights, the day's events, the wine. It was going to her head.

Emily kissed Paige.

It was a long, lingering kiss. It wasn't for show, like their practice kisses. It was the moment. Emily found her body molding against Paige's in ways that they had never practiced. It was the moment, the wine. Emily's hands started to wander down the back of Paige's dress. The moment, the wine...

The inevitability.

Emily felt Paige jerk away. She opened her eyes and saw the look of betrayal on Paige's face. Just then, Pam and Wayne danced by. Pam made a joke - something about how "moving" weddings can be. Paige looked at her guiltily and ran out of the room.

Pam felt horrible. "Emily - I was only joking!"

Emily took off her shoes to run after Paige, biting back tears as she quickly told her mother that it wasn't her fault.

* * *

_It was the moment._

Everything had changed. In a moment.

All because of a moment's indiscretion on the dance floor.

Emily caught up to Paige as Paige frantically pressed the button to summon the elevator, desperate to get back to the safety of her room. Paige turned around when Emily yelled her name from a few feet away. She held her hand up, so Emily stopped in her tracks. Paige asked Emily to give her some space, and Emily realized that it was for the best. She apologized to Paige from the other side of the lobby. Paige dipped her head and disappeared into the elevator.

Emily explained to her family that Paige was getting a headache and had gone to lie down. Paige didn't want Emily to miss the rest of the evening with her family, Emily said, so she urged her to go back to the reception.

Emily stuck it out till the end of the reception, but she wasn't good company. It took all that she had not to break down.

* * *

The following morning, after Emily texted Paige, she was relieved to get the reply that said that Paige was still up for brunch with her parents. Emily gave her a hopeful smile as she stepped into the car, but sullen expression on Paige's face told her that Paige still wasn't over it. When she reached out for Paige's thigh as she apologized, she felt Paige twitch ever so slightly. Emily turned her face to the window so that Paige wouldn't see that she was trying not to cry.

"I, um... I told my family that you had a headache last night," Emily said with a slight sniffle, once she had composed herself. "My Mom's probably going to apologize for what she said, but I told her that it wasn't her fault."

Paige nodded silently. Emily hunched closer to the steering wheel, gripping it tightly, at Paige's cold silence. It would be good, she rationalized to herself, for her parents to see them fight. It would make their charade appear more genuine.

But Paige gave no hint of awkwardness once they got back to Pam and Wayne's house. She wrapped her arm around Emily's waist and put on her game face as they walked up to the front door.

As Emily predicted, Pam apologized for her comment from the night before. Paige hugged her and deflected the apology, saying that the blame was all hers. Wine tended to go to her head, she said. She should have been monitoring how many glasses she had.

Paige was being cool - cool about everything that had happened, and cool in her behavior towards Emily. It wasn't anything blatant, but there was definitely less physical contact than there had been before. Emily kept up appearances, as Paige was doing. Her parents deserved a happy ending to the weekend.

Pam walked Paige and Emily to the car, hugging each of them as they climbed inside. Once they were on the road, Emily uttered a soft thank-you. She was looking straight ahead. She didn't think that she could handle Paige's stony expression.

Emily drove with one hand on the wheel and the other in her hair, as she rested her elbow against the armrest in the door, sighing from time to time - not that Paige noticed. When they were about a block away from the hotel, Paige took a deep breath and uttered five words: "I just need some time."

* * *

They flew home on Labor Day. They couldn't have said thirty words to each other the whole day.

It was dark by the time they got back from the airport. Paige backed into Emily's driveway and unloaded Emily'sbags. Emily gave her a hug, and Paige hugged her back. "Thank you," Emily said. "It meant a lot to my family. And to me."

It had meant a lot. But Emily wasn't sure that it was worth the consequences.

Paige smiled weakly and got back into the car, not bothering to close the trunk for the short drive next door.

* * *

It had been a long time since Hanna had heard Emily weeping into the phone the way that she wept into it that night. She told Hanna how stupid she had been - to have gone through with their grand deception, to have allowed herself to fall for Paige, to have gotten so far out of line at the wedding, and to have thrown away a good friendship.

Hanna was convinced that it was fixable. For once, she wasn't in attack-dog mode; more like comforting puppy. "She said she needed time, Em. It's a lot for her to process."

Emily grunted.

"But, remember, friendship isn't a one way street. She's probably missing you just as much as you miss her. Plus she's... confused."

"Confused? About why she went along with such a bonehead plan in the first place?"

"No, Emily," Hanna said condescendingly. " _Confused._ She's probably not used to having feelings like that for a girl."

Emily groaned. She was tired of the way that Hanna seemed to think that the solution to every one of her problems was that the girl was in love with her.

"Hanna," she said wearily, "she is so clearly not into me."

Hanna wasn't convinced.

* * *

The next time Hanna caught Paige out in her garden, she yelled an exaggeratedly upbeat, "Hi, Paige! Doing a little gardening?"

Paige looked up with a small wave and quickly ducked her head back down into the dirt.

Emily, fuming, pushed Hanna up the steps and into the house.

"What?" Hanna protested. "She's still _my_ friend!"

"Hanna, right now, I don't even know why _I'm_ your friend!"

Emily strictly forbade Hanna to pull another stunt like that, or to confront Paige in any way. "Paige asked for time. You told me to give her time. So I'm giving her time."

But as days turned to weeks and the weeks turned into a month with no change, Hanna grew impatient. She knew that there was more going on than Paige was letting on. If it had just been a question of friendship, Hanna reasoned, Paige would've gotten over it by then.

She had to do something. She had made a promise to Emily, and she would never break that promise.

But she had to do something.


	8. Viral

Emily woke up on what should have been an uneventful Sunday but quickly learned that it was going to be anything but that. When she checked her phone, she found a few dozen notifications from facebook. One of her pictures had gotten a huge number of likes and comments from people she'd never heard of. And she had a bunch of friend requests in her queue. She clicked to see what was getting so much interest and she let out a gasp. It was the picture with Paige and her in front of the mirror; the one that Pam wanted Emily to post. The new comments were all along the lines of "Cute couple!" "Congratulations!" "So happy 4U", "OMG! Where have you been hiding her?" There were several that were just a string of hearts and other emojis.

There was only one explanation. Hanna.

Hanna had tagged Paige in the picture, and, now, all of Paige's friends were seeing it. Emily tossed her phone on the bed and ran to Paige's house, worry spreading across her face. She had her arms folded at her waist - only breaking their grip to run her fingers through her hair.

When Paige finally made it to the door, it was obvious that she had been crying.

"Paige - I'm so sorry! I swear, I had no idea that Hanna was going to do that! I could strangle her right now!"

Paige looked confused. "Hanna?"

"Wait..." Emily realized something else was going on. "What's going on?"

Paige weakly motioned Emily inside. She sat down in the recliner, so Emily took her usual seat on the couch. Paige reached for a slip of paper and handed it to Emily. It had obviously been written by a child.

_Deer Mommy P._

_We are riting letters in school today and I asked Ms. Martin could I rite you to let you know how much Brendan and I miss you and to let you know I am doing good and I am lerning a lot in school._

_I love you Mommy P!_

_Abigail_

Paige gave Emily time to finish the letter, starting to speak only when she saw Emily's lips curl into a bemused smile and Emily handed the paper back to her. "You know, Emily, I knew that it was just a temporary arrangement, and I thought that I had prepared myself for the day when it would all be over, and I thought I was dealing with it, and then, this..."

Emily swallowed hard. Paige had just described to a tee how Emily felt about their whole wedding fiasco.

"I mean, you heart can't help developing an attachment, even when your mind mind is screaming 'Don't do it! It's only temporary! You're just going to end up getting hurt!"

Emily had to bite her lip. She felt like crying herself, but she needed to be strong for Paige. She stood next to the chair where Paige was sitting and rubbed her back as Paige, wrapping her arms around Emily's waist, let the tears fall. She kept squeezing Emily tighter and tighter as her grief escaped in convulsions of heavy sobs.

Emily didn't know what to say. She wished that she could tell Paige the truth - that she knew exactly what Paige was going through - but she worried that it would come of as being pathetic rather than sympathetic; a lame attempt to get Paige to notice her, when Paige was at her most vulnerable. So, she just swallowed her feelings as Paige held onto her and let all her sorrow spill out.

Eventually, Paige timidly released her hold on Emily. "I'm sorry; I'm sorry. I haven't gotten like that for a while. Sorry - I didn't mean to dump all that on you."

Emily gave Paige's back one more rub before she sat back down. "That's what friends are for, Paige."

Emily thought better of bringing up what Hanna had done, right at that moment. They would have to discuss it eventually, of course, and it would be better if she broke the news before Paige discovered it, but she wasn't sure that Paige could handle any more bad news in the state that she was in.

Paige gave her a weak smile. "Sorry - what were you saying when you came over? Something about Hanna?"

"Oh. Yeah..." Emily cleared her throat. "I... um..." Emily shook her head. "It's not important right now." Paige raised her eyebrows. "It's just... well... have you been on facebook yet?"

"Oh, that." Paige chuckled. "Yeah, I'm kind of a rock star back home, thanks to Hanna." Paige chuckled lightly before she remembered how upset Emily had been when she came over. She squeezed Emily's thigh. "Sorry, Emily. I'll shut it down. I was just enjoying the attention," she said, hoping that her joke would make Emily feel better.

"Well, if you really want to mess with them, I could post the pics from the wedding!" Emily sneaked a glance at Paige to see whether or not her comment was out of order. She only said it to play up Paige's joke - and to play down Hanna's offense - but, in reality she did want to post the pictures; to let the world see them. Even if they weren't true, even though she and Paige were just friends. It was kind of nice to think that someone wanted her again; someone wanted to be with her. Sure, they were only pretending, but Emily couldn't help it if she wanted to pretend for just a little bit longer.

Paige, meanwhile, tossed her head back and laughed at Emily's joke, and Emily laughed, because it was good to hear her friend laughing again.

Paige's friendship meant the world to Emily. If anything, their cold spell after San Antonio proved that to her. Even if that were the most they could ever have, even though Emily wanted more, their friendship was precious, and certainly worth fixing.

Emily put her hand on top of Paige's hand, on the armrest of the chair. "Hey, how are you?" she asked sincerely. "I... missed you."

Paige sighed. After a deathly silence, she said, "I'm sorry. I missed you, too. I just... I've had a lot of on my plate, since the wedding. And," she added, sighing again, "I guess it was just easier to avoid having to think about..." Paige looked down. "You know."

Emily scooted closer, really wanting Paige to admit, at last, that they needed to talk about their feelings. She nodded her head, wanting Paige to say the words. Paige continued.

"How do we handle our break-up?"

"Oh." Emily sat back a little. "Huh. I guess I never got that far."

"Yeah." Paige drew out the syllable. "I guess I was just hoping that... somehow... we could still be... you know, friends?" She chuckled lightly. "Not one of those nasty break ups. I mean," she added quickly, "unless that would make it easier to explain things to your family. I would understand that."

Emily scowled, shaking her head. "Oh, no, no, Paige. I would never sacrifice our friendship for the convenience of my family relationships." Emily scoffed, worried that she had already done that. When Paige nodded, Emily continued, slowly and pensively. "I guess... I just expected... that we'd... just... leave it out there, you know? Just kind of let it fade? We wouldn't have to say anything..."

"Oh. So, more of an on-going role, as opposed to a guest appearance?"

"Paige, that's not what I meant," Emily said apologetically.

"Oh, no. I didn't take it the wrong way. I was just thinking that you meant that it would make sense, you know, to leave that door open, in case something else came up, with your family."

Emily stood up and turned away from Paige. She rubbed her forehead in frustration, trying to figure out the words. "Paige, I wish... I never should have asked you to go to the wedding with me." There were tears in Emily's voice. "I mean, it seemed that you and I were getting to be good friends, and then, after San Antonio..." Emily shook her head, pivoting to look at Paige. "I just wish that I had a do-over on that one. Whatever it got me with my family, it wasn't worth what it did to us - to our friendship."

Paige stood, slowly and wordlessly, and extended her hands to Emily for a hug. It was something that had come to seem so natural, in the month-long run-up to the wedding. So natural that Emily forgot herself once again, not even realizing that she had leaned in and pressed her lips to Paige's.

Paige backed away from the kiss, roughly. "What are you doing?"

Emily stuttered over her words. "I... I..."

"No, I'm sorry, if I made you think..."

"No, I'm... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..." Emily pleaded with Paige with her eyes. Dejected at Paige's blank stare, she let her gaze drop. "I'll just go."

* * *

Emily was crying by the time she picked up her phone to call Hanna. She had managed to turn a big mess into an enormous mess. A few minutes earlier, all she had wanted to do was scream at Hanna for tagging Paige in that facebook post. But by the time she was on the phone with Hanna, all she wanted was her shoulder to cry on.


	9. It's Complicated

Emily didn't know what to feel when she opened her front door and saw Paige standing on her porch. She leaned in the doorway with her arms across folded at her waist. She wasn't in the mood for this. This thing, whatever it was, had pulled her in too many directions. She'd had enough.

Paige was hunched over in a vulnerable stance, as if her entire body were doing penance. Her head was dipped in that adorable way she had; the way that used to make Emily's stomach dip along with it. Not this time.

When Paige heard the door open, she looked up at Emily with a dopey grin, but Emily was having none of it. She was tired of the roller coaster that was Paige McCullers: the slow, exhilarating climb to the height, followed by gut-wrenching twist and turns; then, the unexpected, swift fall, and the sudden, inevitable end.

She was too old for roller coasters. She pulled herself out of the line.

"What do you want, Paige?" Her tone was flat and her expression, stoic. She shifted her head from one shoulder to the other.

Paige pulled a plate of biscotti from behind her back with one hand and a silver thermos of cappuccino in the other.

Emily sighed heavily, unable to hide her smile as she shook her head. She stood up straight, creating some space in the doorway. "Get in here..."

Paige followed Emily into the kitchen. Emily was careful to maintain the space between the two of them. She wasn't obvious about it, but Paige noticed.

Emily removed the plastic wrap from the plate of biscotti and poured the cappuccino, handing Paige one of the cups. Paige headed to the living room and took a seat. Emily followed with the biscotti and her cup. Sitting down, she kept it terse. "So?" There was no bitterness or anger behind the question.

Paige took a deep breath. "I just wanted to apologize. I know I've been bad." She laughed lightly, relieved to see that Emily smiled. "I know it's been like a roller coaster for you, and that it's been really - unfair and hard on you. This is just... I don't know. This is something I've never had to process before - or even think about. And I haven't handled it well. So, I'm sorry about that."

Emily realized that she didn't know Paige at all. She didn't know what she was struggling with, or anything about her journey. Emily thought back to how she had fought to come to terms with who she was when she first started dating Maya. She was young when that happened; better able to adapt to change. And, even though it was rocky at first, she had acceptance from her father and, eventually, support from her mother. Apparently, Paige had no one.

"Paige..." Emily's tone was softer than before. She spoke slowly. "I don't really know a lot about you." Paige looked up. Before she could apologize, Emily continued, "and that's my fault. I was so busy thinking about myself and what I wanted that I never asked you about yourself. I asked you to pretend to be my girlfriend, but I never had the courage to ask you what your sexual preference is. And that was wrong. I should have asked."

"Emily, I don't blame you."

"Still, I was wrong. And now I'm asking."

Paige stood and turned her back to Emily. She pinched the bridge of her nose.

Emily stood a couple of paces behind Paige. "Paige?" Her tone was patient, non-threatening. Paige took a deep breath and let it out, but didn't say anything. Emily put her hand on Paige's shoulder. "You can tell me anything."

Paige turned slowly. "Emily… I…" She breathed out again, with a chuckle of frustration.

"Paige, you _do_ know that it's okay to have feelings for a woman, right?"

Paige shook her head and laughed. "I know," she said softly. "It's nothing like that."

"So…" Emily started to get impatient. "What is it, then?"

"It's…" Paige sighed. "complicated."

Emily sank back into her chair. She crossed her legs and put her hands on the armrests. Her look was defiant. She had learned that, when a person claimed that something was complicated, it usually wasn't. It usually just meant that the person just didn't want to tell what was going on.

Emily decided to play it Paige's way. Even assuming that it was complicated, it could still be explained. "I've got plenty of time," she said.

Paige took a seat. She put on a sheepish smile. "Okay… I guess it's not that complicated. I…" She sighed, with an embarrassed laugh. "I sort of…" She shook her head, looking down at the floor. "I have a girlfriend."

Emily rolled her eyes. "I'm not in the mood to play games, Paige. If you're not ready to tell me the truth, you might as well just take your thermos and your biscotti and get the hell out of here."

"No, no, Emily. I wouldn't lie to you. I should've told you before, but…"

Emily stood up, slapping her hands against her thighs. "Well, she can't be that much of a girlfriend, Paige! Your friends all seemed excited when they saw that picture and thought that you and I were dating."

"Yeah…" Paige drew out the syllable. "See, here's the thing. My friends don't really know that I'm dating. She, um… She wants to keep it on the DL."

Emily shook her head in disbelief, fighting off tears. "So, you're telling me that you were pretending that you weren't dating this other girl, and pretending that you _were_ dating me?"

Paige shrugged apologetically.

"Okay," Emily said flatly. "Great." She wrapped her arms protectively around herself. "Well, I'm sorry, Paige. I obviously misread everything between us. I just hope you'll let your girlfriend know that I had no idea, or I never would have asked you to pretend that you were dating me."

"Emily…" Paige pleaded. She walked over and put her hands on Emily's shoulders. Emily shrugged away, immediately. "Look – I get why you're mad at me."

"I'm not mad," Emily said, trying to keep her voice from going higher. "I just feel so stupid right now."

"Emily…"

"How did you get her to go along with this in the first place?" Paige dipped her head, with a guilty expression on her face. "You mean to tell me you didn't even..."

Paige bit her lip.

"I think you should go, Paige. Just go."

Paige opened her mouth and let it close again. She put her hands up in surrender. "I guess you're right." Paige walked towards the door. Emily trailed behind her, her arms still clinging tight around herself. She was looking at the floor, and she didn't notice when Paige stopped and turned around. She stopped herself with a gasp just in time to avoid a collision. "May I just say one thing before I go?"

"I think you've said enough."

"Please, Emily?"

Emily breathed in deeply through her nostrils and looked up at the ceiling. In the end, she decided that it would be faster to let Paige say whatever it was than to argue over whether or not she should. Emily silently nodded her head.

"You didn't misread things, Emily."

Emily glared at Paige, her eyes saying, "Don't insult my intelligence."

"What you were feeling… It wasn't one-sided. I felt it, too. That's why… I got freaked out a little. As close as we've become, and as… attractive as you are, there's no way that I could just kiss you without feeling anything."

"Fine. Great. Is that it?"

"Just one more thing, Emily. I knew that I wouldn't be able to pretend that we were dating without running the risk of developing feelings for you. So, if everything had been great with my girlfriend, I would never have agreed to go out with you. When I agreed, I told myself that it wasn't cheating; that it was just acting. I convinced myself that what I did was okay. It wasn't. It wasn't fair to you or to my girlfriend. It was wrong, and I'm sorry."

Emily stood in silence, her eyes fixed on a point just behind Paige's shoulder. Paige waited for her to reply. When she didn't, Paige let her shoulders drop in defeat and opened the door. "Good-bye, Emily."

Emily closed the door and pressed her palm against it, using it to steady herself so that she didn't crumble to the floor. It felt as if the room were spinning. There she was again – on the Paige roller coaster. First, rage, then sympathy, then disbelief, then rage again.

But what really got Emily was Paige's final bombshell. She didn't even have the decency to leave it at "I have a girlfriend" – leave Emily to her righteous anger; leave her with an excuse to justify the fact that she never wanted to see Paige again.

Instead, Paige had chosen to plant the seeds of doubt; or, worse, the seeds of hope; - to make Emily think that there was the possibility for something between the two of them.

But Emily wasn't falling for it.

So, the woman who, she thought, was gay was actually taken. Not much of a difference. Either way, Paige was off limits. Either way, Emily wasn't going to be _that girl_ \- the lovesick fool who pines away, thinking that the situation was going change, if only she wished hard enough.


	10. Dealing with It

"So, basically, all that time, she was cheating on her girlfriend from back home with you?"

"No, Hanna," Emily said wearily. "We weren't doing anything. It was just acting." Emily was trying to convince herself as much as Hanna.

"Okay, but how would you feel if your girlfriend did that to you?"

Emily let out a heavy breath. "Apparently, Shana's okay with it." Hanna rolled her eyes. Emily shrugged. "I mean, she saw that picture after you tagged it on facebook and..." Emily trailed off.

"And what?"

"I don't know," Emily said. "I guess she's so far in the closet, she was just relieved that all her friends thought that Paige and I were dating. It took the heat off her, as a suspect. Turns out she was even one of the people who left a comment on the picture, you know - to cover her tracks." Emily shook her head, unable to believe it herself.

"Really?" Emily shrugged. "And you don't think that Paige is just bullshitting you about the fact that Shana's her girlfriend?"

"Positive."

"God. I wish I had your faith. 'Cause, personally, I would've contacted this Shana chick and checked Paige's story out."

"Yep!" Emily said impatiently. She wasn't as naïve as people seemed to think. "Did that."

"You did?" Emily nodded. "And?"

"Yes, they're dating, and yes, she's fine with it," Emily said through a sigh. "The only thing she was worried about was that I was going to out her."

"Whoa!"

"Yeah."

"Em, this whole thing is seriously fucked up!"

"Tell me about it..."

"Don't you think that's part of the reason that Paige agreed to pretend to be your girlfriend? I mean, maybe she was looking for an escape. Put yourself in her shoes: Would you want to be in a relationship like that?"

"So, you're telling me, I should forgive her, because she's not only a liar, but also a coward? Too afraid to break up even though she's in a bad relationship?"

"Says the girl who _lied_ about the fake girlfriend she took to her cousin's wedding and who was too much of a _coward_ to ask that fake girlfriend whether she was straight or what."

"Okay, but I never lied to _Paige_."

"Really? So, you told her that you had developed feelings for her?"

"Okay, I may not have told her everything, but..."

Hanna angrily cut off that thought. "And what are you upset with Paige about? The fact that _she_ didn't tell you everything!"

"Okay." Emily raised her hands and let them fall against her thighs. "I get it. This is my punishment. 'Whatsoever thou shalt do unto thy neighbor shall be done unto thee sevenfold.'"

Hanna smiled.

"Yeah, well, I'm glad you think it's funny."

"Damned right, I think it's funny!" Emily rolled her eyes. "Don't you get it, Em? Based on what you just said, you've got a whole bunch of surprise kisses from Paige in your future!"

Emily groaned. "Look, the point is, I fucked up big time, okay? I admit it. But that doesn't magically cancel out the fact that Paige fucked up, too." Emily's hands were flailing wildly. "And it doesn't mean that I don't have the right to be pissed off at her, still."

Hanna put her hands up. "You're right! You do have the right to be mad at her. But just remember this, Em: You fell for Paige even when you thought that she was was the impossible, straight dream. So, your heart saw something in her. And, now that you've found out that she's far from perfect, are you going to let a chance at happiness slip away, just because you have the right to be angry with her?"

Emily let out a deep breath. "I don't know, Hanna," she whined. "It's just too much. And it's too soon to let go of my anger. She _hurt_ me. I just... I can't deal with Paige McCullers right now."

Hanna tilted her head, leaning closer to Emily. "But someday?"

Emily shrugged.

* * *

After Paige made her attempt at an apology to Emily, she gave Emily space. It's what she herself would have wanted; it's what she thought Emily needed. Paige's natural response to conflict was avoidance.

That may have been why she hung in there Shana for so long.

And, gradually, with space and time, Emily began to ease away from her anger. She came to appreciate Hanna's point, that there was plenty of blame - and forgiveness - to go around. And, in time, she started to remember a Paige from the one who hurt her. She remembered the Paige who took in Abby and Brendan when their mother was in a bad place; the one whose heart was broken after she received Abby's letter. The Paige who was willing to travel to Texas to help out a friend; the one who spent time practicing her dancing and her kisses, to make sure that Emily wasn't caught in a lie and embarrassed.

Hanna was right. It wasn't worth holding onto her anger, even if it was justifiable. The cost - losing a great friend - was too high.

Little by little, she and Paige fell back into step as friends. Sort of. It was more like a good-neighbor relationship. When Emily saw Paige out working in the yard, she smiled and waved to her, the way that she had done before. There was rarely anything between them other than a quick hello and, perhaps, a few syllables of small talk.

To be honest, Emily missed her former friendship with Paige, and she felt guilty for having cut her off the way she did. But she had to protect her own heart. She wasn't willing to run to Paige's doorstep again, and risk making a fool of herself again.

* * *

Given the state of their relationship, Paige was a little surprised when Emily did turn up on her doorstep.

"Emily," she said with a welcoming smile. "It's good to see you."

Emily had nothing in her hands; no mis-delivered mail, no baked goods for a peace offering. No pretext for what she was there to do.

Emily looked unusually nervous. Paige understood; it had been a while since their last real conversation, and that conversation had definitely left them in an uncomfortable place.

"Would you like to come in?" Paige stood to the side and gestured with her arm, the smile on her face still radiant.

"Thanks," Emily said, shyly looking down and brushing the hair away from her face.

Emily settled in on the couch, looking around the room nervously, as if she were seeing it for the first time.

"How have you been?" Paige called from the kitchen.

"I've been good." Emily was fidgeting with her fingers, staring at them to avoid looking up. "I didn't see you in the yard last week." Emily stood and took a couple of steps towards the kitchen, so she didn't have to raise her voice quite so much for Paige to hear her. "I wanted to make sure that everything was okay."

"Yeah, thanks." Paige emerged from the kitchen, swishing her head to shake the hair out of her eyes, while her hands were occupied gripping a tray with two cappuccinos and some Entenmann's tea cookies. Emily followed her lead and headed back to the couch. "I was actually back home for a visit."

"Oh, right." Emily smiled as she took the cup that Paige was offering. "So, did you get to see Abby and Brendan?"

"I did!" Paige answered enthusiastically. "Yeah. They're good. They're growing up so quickly..." Paige looked away from Emily, shaking her head wistfully.

Emily smiled. "I'm sure they were excited to see you."

"They were. It was a surprise birthday party and - wait!" Paige pulled out her phone and scrolled through some pictures. It felt good to have someone there to share the memories with.

"Listen to me, going on and on!" Paige said after showing off more pictures than she had remembered taking. She touched Emily's thigh, shaking it a little. "How are you?"

Emily forced a smile. "Well, actually..." She picked up her coffee cup, placed it on her left palm, and began tracing her right index-finger around the rim, letting her eyes follow her finger's movements. "That's why I'm here."

Paige leaned in, concerned about whatever was weighing on Emily's heart.

"Okay," Emily said, letting out a deep breath, "I know you're going to think that I'm crazy, and you can tell me to go... stuff myself, but..." Emily blew out a quick breath. "And I know that I haven't even said two words to you since... everything... but," Emily sighed, putting down the coffee cup and running both hands through her hair. "Here's the thing, Paige. My parents decided that they want to come see me for Thanksgiving, and I know that I should've told them the truth about you and me a long time ago, but I didn't, and they want to see you - well, they're _expecting_ to see you, so..."

Paige chuckled genially, volunteering before Emily even had to ask. "Sure, Emily. Of course. Whatever you need."

Emily bit her lip and stared at Paige. "I can just tell them that we broke up."

"If you think that's best," Paige offered. "But if you want me to be your girlfriend again, I'll be your girlfriend again."

Emily tilted her head. "You really don't mind?"

"Whatever you need, Emily. Em."

"And you can tell Shana not to worry. I won't cross any boundaries."

Paige smiled resignedly. "I don't think that'll be a problem."

Emily really wanted to know what was up with Shana and Paige: Why was Paige so sure that it wouldn't be a problem? Was Hanna right? Was it a relationship that Paige needed an escape from?

But she was firm in her decision not to go after Paige. And she wasn't going to go after false hope, either. For now, she was only going to think about herself; her needs. And, for now, what she needed was a make-believe girlfriend – as horribly as that worked out the last time.

Emily stood up and stretched out her arms in gratitude. Their hug was long and heartfelt. It went on a little long, but only because it had been so long since they had hugged each other, and, truth be told, they had both missed each other. They had missed _hugging_ each other.

There was no kiss this time, although that felt like the natural way for the hug to end – because that was how their hugs often used to end. But, this time, Emily's mind - and her heart - didn't take her down that path.

Perhaps they could've used the practice. It had been a while since they had engaged in make-believe kissing, and things were much more strained than they were back when the kisses became almost second-nature. They didn't have a lot of time to get back into the swing of fake dating, but Emily couldn't worry about that.

It would probably be like riding a bicycle, she told herself; the body doesn't forget. She really hoped so, anyway.


	11. Reprise

When Pam called Emily to let her know that she and Wayne had made it off of the plane and were on their way to baggage claim, Emily told her that Paige was waiting in the cell phone lot. "I'm running a little behind," she explained, "getting the house ready and stuff."

"Oh?" Pam's voice went higher and her eyes widened with excitement. She swiveled her head towards Wayne, her eyebrows raised suggestively.

"Yeah," Emily continued. "I'll text her to let her know you're there, and she'll swing around to pick you up. She's got my Toyota."

"Okay, Honey!" Emily heard something in Pam's voice; something unsaid, as if she were confirming that she was in on some secret that Emily was trying to hide. But Emily didn't have time to worry about that. There was still a lot to do.

"She sent Paige to come get us." Pam was trying to keep a lid on her excitement. She didn't want her expression to let Paige know that she was onto them, when Paige got there.

"Uh huh." Wayne was oblivious.

"Yeah. I guess she was 'too busy,' getting the house ready."

"Okay."

"And Paige is driving Emmy's car!"

Wayne couldn't ignore the insinuation in Pam's tone any longer. "And, in girl-code, that means..."

"Oh, Wayne!" Pam gave him a playful slap on the shoulder. "Obviously, Paige has moved into the house, and Emily's busy hiding all of her stuff before we get there!"

"Hiding her stuff?"

"You know..." Pam playfully teased out the last word. " - hiding all of Paige's clothes, toiletries, and what-not, so that we won't figure out that they've moved in together!"

Wayne laughed. "And you got all this from the fact that Paige is picking us up in the airport?"

"A mother knows these things," Pam insisted. "I know my Emmy! Don't you ever wonder why they don't post pictures to facebook?"

"And, why would that be, do you think?"

"Because they don't want us to know that Paige is living in our old house!" There was a sing-songy lilt in Pam's voice. "In our old bedroom," she added, delighted at the thought of impending marriage and grandchildren.

There was a honk as Paige pulled the car over and jumped out to give Pam and Wayne a hug. "Sorry Emily couldn't come to meet you," she began. "She's..."

"Taking care of some things back at the house!" Pam winked and hugged Paige again. "We understand!"

* * *

Pam got into the front seat with Paige for the ride home. Paige called Emily to let her know that they were on their way. Pam spent most of the drive catching up with Paige, and getting Paige caught up on their lives and family in San Antonio. Wayne chimed in from time to time, mainly helping Pam remember a name or date that had eluded her.

Emily met her parents with a hug and an apology. "You don't realize how unpresentable things have gotten until you have guests over," she explained, wearily cheerful.

"Oh, that's okay, Emmy," Pam said with a knowing grin. "It can't be easy to take care of this big house all by yourself!"

Emily smiled uncomfortably at Paige, assuming that her mother was dropping a hint that the two of them should be married. Paige smiled back. She was game for whatever Pam and Wayne had in store for them.

"I'm afraid it's just take-out tonight," Emily said, pointing to the paper plates and plastic utensils on the table.

"That's fine," Wayne said. "We'll make up for it in the kitchen tomorrow!"

* * *

Over dinner, Pam seemed to have an inordinate interest in Paige's house: What improvements she had made to it, what kind of repairs it needed, how many years she had left on her mortgage. Paige wasn't surprised, attributing Pam's interest to the fact that she had lived in the neighborhood for so long and had known the former occupants.

Emily sat listening with her forehead squinched in confusion through the whole conversation. "Mom, since when do you have this big obsession with real estate?"

"Oh, Emmy!" Pam said, swiping Emily's forearm. "I'm just making conversation!"

"Okay..."

There was an awkward pause before Pam shrugged and said, "But, speaking of real estate, I hear that the market's on an upswing! You'd probably get a good return on your investment."

Paige nodded her head with a smile, acknowledging Pam's comment. Emily, confusion still showing on her forehead, looked back and forth between Paige and her mother a few times before looking at Wayne for some kind of guidance. Wayne was just shaking his head at Pam's lack of subtlety.

"And I know a great real estate agent!" Pam added perkily.

* * *

As dinner wound down, Paige helped clear the table and gave Emily a kiss good night. She went to hug Pam, but Pam waved her off. "Oh, Paige!" she said, her gruff voice going over-the-top. She smiled, first at Paige, then at Emily, then gave Wayne a knowing look. "It's okay!" She drew out the last syllable theatrically.

Paige smiled nervously at Pam, then at Emily, like someone who wasn't in on the joke.

"You don't have to spend the night at your old house just because Wayne and I are here!" Pam's voice was full of playful condescension.

Emily's head popped up. "Wait... what now?"

"Emmy, your father and I don't mind." Pam's smile became even wider. "We're all adults here," she said with a teasing lilt.

"Wait - you think that Paige and I..."

Paige got behind Emily and wrapped her arms in front. "I guess the jig's up, Em. They're onto us!"

Emily looked backwards over her shoulder at Paige, with a wide-eyed glared. Paige, smiling, gave her a kiss on the cheek.

Emily was trapped. She couldn't correct her mother after Paige's little comment. She didn't know what game Paige was playing, but she was definitely not in the mood for it.

* * *

When they had said their good-nights and finally gotten behind closed doors, Paige asked Emily to let her borrow something to sleep in.

Emily glared at her. "I don't care what the fuck you sleep in."

Paige shrugged and started to take off her top. Emily quickly stopped her and handed her some sweats, pushing her by the shoulders into the bathroom. "I am so angry with you right now."

"Do you want me to sleep in the chair?"

"No!" Emily said sharply. "You're sleeping in the bed, with me!"

"Okay... If you don't think we're moving too fast..."

"It's not funny, Paige. You're only getting in bed with me because I don't want my Mom waking us in the morning and thinking that I made you sleep in the chair because we had a fight!"

"Okay, but isn't this, what we're doing right now - doesn't that qualify as a fight?"

* * *

After Emily's turn in the bathroom, she pulled up the blanket and climbed into bed. "Do you want to be big spoon or little spoon?" Paige asked.

Emily turned her back to Paige. "Little spoon. I can't look at you right now."

"Okay." Paige's voice was decidedly peppy as she threw her arm across Emily's waist. Emily wriggled away from Paige, lifting Paige's hand and dropping it on the other side of the bed.

"Oh, Emily?" Paige's tone was still annoyingly pleasant.

"What, Paige?"

"Just one more thing: When I was back home? I broke up with Shana."

* * *

Emily was getting even angrier by the minute as she lay awake next to Paige, trying to make sense of the gigantic bomb that Paige had just dropped.

_Why did Paige break up with Shana?_

_Why hadn't she said anything about it before?_

_Why did she decide that that moment was the right time to tell her?_

Emily sat up against the headboard and looked at the clock. She had been thrashing over those questions for the better part of an hour. And Paige had the audacity just to lie there and sleep, as if she didn't have a care in the world. As if she hadn't just lobbed that huge grenade right into the bunker of Emily's mind.

Emily started poking Paige in the shoulder until Paige turned over, rubbing her eyes. "Emily? Are you okay?"

"What the hell do you mean, you broke up with Shana?"

"Huh?"

"It's a simple question, Paige." Emily was gesturing with her hands as she enumerated the possibilities. "Did she dump you? Did you decide that you couldn't do the hiding thing anymore? Or the long distance? And why didn't you feel the need to tell me this until you were in my fucking bed?"

"Okay, Emily, well, first of all, it's not as if we've had a real conversation in the past six weeks. Except when you wanted me to pretend to be your girlfriend again."

"Why did you break up with her, Paige?"

Paige noticed that Emily tended to say her name a lot when she was upset with her.

Paige opened her mouth, but it came out as a yawn. Emily poked her shoulder again. "No yawning!"

"I'm supposed to stop myself from yawning?" Paige asked through a giggle.

"Yes," Emily said, stone-faced. "I'm still angry with you."

"Emily." Paige's voice was suddenly deep and serious. "You _know_ why I broke up with her."

"Say it, Paige."

"I broke up with her," Paige said with no hesitation, "because of you. Because of my feelings for you."

Emily's eyes narrowed. She grabbed Paige roughly, making tight fists around the collar of her Rosewood Sharks sweatshirt. She kissed Paige, feverishly. Passionately. Aggressively.

It felt good to be able to kiss Paige like that; to kiss her with the knowledge that it wasn't pretending. And that it wasn't one-sided. That Paige wanted it as much as Emily did.

It started to feel a little too good, given the fact they were in Emily's bed. Emily broke away from the kiss, turning her back to Paige as she lay back down. "I'm still angry with you," she said weakly. It wasn't an overstatement, though.

"O_kay," Paige chuckled, rolling over to lie on her back. Emily sighed, shook her head, and then peeked over her shoulder to see where Paige had gone. Spotting her, she reached back and tugged on Paige's arm, pulling it across her waist and holding it against herself tightly.


	12. Thanksgiving Memories

As Emily had predicted, Pam was at their door bright and early on Thanksgiving morning. "Good morning, girls," she called out pleasantly, with her hand covering her eyes as she poked her head through the door. "Is everybody decent?"

"Mom!"

"Let's get a wiggle in it! We've got a lot to do today!"

Emily sighed. Paige rolled onto her back, and Emily snuggled in next to her, with her head resting on her hands on top of Paige's chest. Paige looked down, and Emily kissed her.

"I take my eggs over easy," Paige deadpanned. Emily punched her in the shoulder. Paige wasn't sure that Emily was over her anger from the night before, but she kept going. "Some bacon would be good, but ham will do in a pinch."

"Oh, shut up!" Emily climbed on top of Paige, straddling her waist and pinning her hands against the mattress. She smiled triumphantly, having gained the upper hand.

Paige looked up at her with hopeful eyes. "Are you still mad at me?"

Emily dipped down and gave her a series of quick kisses, making an exaggerated "mwa" sound with each one. She had the delighted smile delight of a kid with a new toy who couldn't believe that she was allowed to play with it. The novelty of being able to kiss Paige as much as she wanted had her a bit giddy.

She kept on peppering Paige with kisses until she felt Paige struggle to get her hands free. "Emily..." Emily froze, looking concerned as Paige, once again, was pulling away after they kissed. "You know," Paige said softly, tilting her head to the side. She looked down at the way that their bodies were aligned and gave a shrug, her thighs involuntarily twitching.

"Ohhhh." Emily giggled nervously, lifting her leg and rolling off of Paige. "I know," she agreed, tugging at her top a couple of times, to get some ventilation. It had gotten a bit warm in there.

As Emily lay on her back, Paige put her head on her chest, mirroring the posture that Emily had adopted earlier. "I do want to apologize, though, Emily."

Emily sighed. She didn't want to hear an apology. She just wanted to lie there and enjoy the new status between them.

Whatever that status was.

Emily realized that they did need to talk after all.

Paige rolled onto her side, leaning on her elbow. She teased the hair away from Emily's face with her index finger. "I went about this whole thing in the worst possible way, Em. I should have been straight with you from the beginning."

Emily placed her hand on Paige's cheek. "Well, I guess there's a lot of blame to go around. After all, I was the one who put you in that position in the first place."

Paige shook your head. "No, Emily. You've already apologized. Multiple times. And I just let you go along, thinking you were at fault; thinking you were crazy; thinking - whatever. And that's not the way to start a relationship."

Emily found herself smiling at the mention of relationship. She leaned up for a soft kiss. "I forgive you, Paige."

"Girls!" Pam's voice started cheery, but grew authoritative as she continued. "I'm not hearing the sound of two young ladies getting dressed!"

Paige lay next to Emily again, putting her head on Emily's chest again. Emily dipped down and gave her a kiss on the top of her head. "I wish we could just stay here all day."

"I know, right?" Emily smoothed her fingers over Paige's hair. Yawning, she added, "My Mom had a good idea, didn't she?" Paige nodded, smiling. "Paige," Emily said, softening the blow with another kiss to the top of Paige's head, "we still need to talk about this break-up with Shana."

"I know," Paige said, peeking up at her.

"But not today," Emily continued. "We can just enjoy today."

* * *

Emily made it downstairs and into the kitchen, only to find that it had become Pam's kitchen again. She and Paige were merely chef's assistants. Paige wasn't sure how long Pam had been up and at it, but the spectacle was impressive. She did her best to keep up as Pam barked out rapid-fire orders, bouncing from one station to another, occasionally putting her hand atop Paige's to correct the way that Paige was stirring or chopping. Emily was taking it all in stride. Paige reasoned that she must've gotten used to this type of thing, growing up with Pam Fields.

When Wayne passed through to change the liner in the garbage can, he came up behind Paige and put his hands on her shoulders. "I'm so glad you're here, Paige. It takes a lot of the pressure off of me!"

Paige and Emily's giddiness was obvious as they flitted around the kitchen. It was odd, in a way. When they were pretending to be a couple, it was never obvious that they were keeping a secret. But, now that they were, for all intents and purposes, a couple, and enjoying their new-couple high, they were acting kind of cagey. Whenever Pam or Wayne caught them whispering or making subtle contact with each other, they stopped quickly, trying not to look guilty.

Pam and Wayne new that something was up. Pam found it adorable. She kept smiling to herself and nudging Wayne. All she needed was a bag of popcorn, a couch and a box of Kleenex, and it would've been just like watching one of those Hallmark movies that she often made Wayne sit through.

Wayne couldn't resist messing with the girls.

"We're here to work, not fraternize, girls!"

"Am I going to have to separate the two of you?"

Pam poked him in the ribs and told him to cut it out. When she pulled him to the side, he told her that he was only fooling around. "Let's face it: They're way too giddy!"

"Exactly," Pam said, "so you leave them alone," she commanded before reverting to her sing-song voice. "I think we might be getting an announcement today!"

"An announcement?" Pam nodded. "You think Paige got our little girl pregnant?"

Pam punched him in the shoulder. "Silly! No, I think she asked our little girl to marry her!"

Wayne laughed out loud.

"You mark my words, Wayne! I told you - a mother knows!"

* * *

Pam was primed for an announcement.

When they finally got everything on the table, after Wayne said a blessing over the meal, Pam said, "Well, Thanksgiving is a nice time for making memories. I'll never forget the first Thanksgiving that Wayne and I spent together, just the two of us, when he was in Basic." She paused, smiling at Wayne, who smiled back and gave her hand a squeeze. When she spoke again, her voice became playful. "Do you two have anything you'd like to share?"

Paige looked at Emily.

"You guys have been tooling around all morning as if you've got something to hide," Wayne said, his tone flat; authoritative.

"Well, actually, we _do_ have an announcement to make." Emily folded her napkin in her lap and took Paige's hand, ignoring the look of panic and surprise on Paige's face. Paige was up for improvisation, but they hadn't discussed moving their charade to the "engagement" level. Or, perhaps, Emily was about to come clean about the charade? They hadn't discussed that, either.

"I know that you two thought that Paige and I had already moved in together, but, in reality, we hadn't. We had both thought about it, but neither one of us was brave enough to bring it up. Until last night. So, I just wanted to say thank you, for helping us take our relationship to the next level." Wayne sat bolt upright at that. "I mean - not 'the next level,' Daddy." Emily heard herself revert to the word, "daddy," which she reserved for times when she really needed Wayne's help or attention. "The next _step,_ " she clarified.

Emily gave Paige's hand a squeeze. Paige smiled and nodded.

She and Emily needed to talk.

* * *

It was hours later, after dessert, dishes, and football, that they had some time to themselves. "Emily - what you said to your parents... Are you seriously saying that you're ready to move in together?"

"Oh, God no!" No sooner had the words left Emily's mouth than she backtracked, hearing how harsh they sounded. "You know what I mean, Paige - it's way too soon. I just wanted to be able to celebrate the fact that you and I are together, but I couldn't tell them that's what I was celebrating, you know? So that seemed like a way to share our joy with them, and to satisfy their curiosity, without giving it away" Emily lowered her head, looking apologetically at Paige. "Are you mad?"

Paige gave her a kiss. "No, of course not." Even if she had been, she couldn't have stayed mad, looking at Emily's puppy dog face.

"Really? Did I make you think that we would be moving in together?"

"No, Emily. As you said, it's way too soon."

"Okay," Emily said softly, and kissed Paige.

"But that doesn't mean I can't sleep over here sometimes, right? And you could sleep at my place?"

"Of course!" Emily agreed heartily. She liked the sound of that. "And, at least, we've got our own Thanksgiving memory," she offered, hoping that Paige was with her on its significance.

Paige hugged Emily from the side, kissing her temple. "The first of many, Em."

Pam and Wayne, meanwhile, had a talk of their own. "A mother knows, huh?"

"Oh, hush Wayne!"

"I'm just saying, you 'knew' that they had moved in together, only they hadn't, and you 'knew' that they were engaged, only they weren't!"

Pam pointed a finger at Wayne, staring up at him with deadly serious eyes that were betrayed by the playful smile beneath them. "Don't you question my instincts, Wayne Fields! I was right about the two of them moving in together. I just knew it before they did! And I'm right about the engagement, too! You can bet the farm on that!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N - I totally stole the "I take my eggs" business from WaitingForLightning's review [on fanfiction dot net]... If you haven't read her fics - you should!


	13. Falling Together

Okay," Paige said as she unlocked her front door. "You guys have to understand that I didn't have a chance to tidy things up last night."

From as far back as her cousin's wedding, Emily had talked up Paige's baking skills, and Pam and Wayne were eager to taste for themselves. So, after a busy Thanksgiving morning of cooking and a relaxed afternoon of eating and digesting, there was much excitement as they headed over to Paige's house to enjoy an evening of coffee, baked goods, and relaxing.

Paige opened the door to her immaculate house, continuing her apology for not having cleaned it. "I was planning to do it when I got home last night but..."

 _You ended up doing their daughter instead?_ Emily snickered at the thought. Of course, that's not what had happened in her bed the night before, but that's what she knew Hanna would've said, had she been there.

Paige gave Emily a look, and Emily waved it off, trying her best to keep it together. She couldn't wait to share that line with Hanna, later.

While Paige puttered around in the kitchen, Pam took a look around the house. Emily stayed close, to make sure that she didn't get into anything she shouldn't. Pam was not above a little purposeful snooping.

She picked up a picture and smiled. "Oh, they're adorable, Emmy! Who are they? Niece and nephew?"

"That's..." Emily gulped. Her silence and her body language made Pam a little nervous. "Abby and Brendan."

"And they are..."

"They're... they _were_ Paige's foster kids."

"Well, what happened to them?"

"Nothing bad." Emily was a bit surprised at how emotional she was getting. Somehow, somewhere along the line, she had become invested in Paige's foster kids - hurting for her loss the way that Paige herself did. "They're back with their mom, and everything's good. We just - _Paige_ just - really misses them."

Paige emerged from the kitchen with a tea tray and a smile. When she turned the smile in Emily's direction, Emily smiled quickly and looked away shyly. She had a lot to process.

The reality was that she and Paige had only been together - or whatever they were - for a grand total of about 16 hours. But Emily couldn't deny the emotions that she felt when she and Pam were discussing Paige's kids, or the pride that she felt when she saw Paige walk out of the kitchen as the perfect host, or the way that her stomach fluttered each time Paige looked over to make sure that she was okay.

After Paige set the tray down and served Emily's parents, she walked over to where Emily was still standing, bringing along a cup of tea and a pastry. "Are you okay?" she asked, wrapping her arm around Emily's waist.

Emily nodded and gave her a kiss on the cheek before she took a bite. "Oh, my God, Paige, these are so good!"

* * *

"So, you girls don't have a lot of pictures of each other, do you?" There was a hint of concern in Pam's voice.

Emily smiled at Paige, doing her best to look casual and not expose the panic that she felt on the inside.

"No, not at home," Paige said, returning Emily's smile. "You know our generation; we have everything on our phones. I like to keep pictures of Emily at the office, so I can feel connected to her while I'm working. Kind of like the reason that I keep Abby and Brendan's pictures up in the house – far away, but close to my heart." Emily rubbed Paige's leg, not at the fact that she had come up with such a convincing story on the spot, but because what she had said was really sweet. And, even though Paige was only saying it for her parents' sake, Emily kind of liked the comparison to Paige's kids. She hoped that it would be true someday; that she could occupy the same place in Paige's heart.

Paige wasn't finished, though. She hugged Emily from the side and kissed her on the cheek as she added, "Besides, I want all my co-workers to see how beautiful my girlfriend is!"

"Aww," Pam oozed. She gave Emily a wink, as if to say, "Don't let this one get away."

* * *

When Emily led Pam and Wayne back to her house, Paige stayed behind to packed a few things for her weekend sleepover, now that they were in the "living together" phase of their fake relationship.

As she and Emily got ready for bed, Emily debated whether or not she should bring up what was on her mind. A big part of her wanted to avoid conflict in their brand new relationship, but, at the same time, she and Paige had talked about being honest with each other. So, when they settled into bed, she positioned herself facing Paige. Lying in bed together, she reasoned, they were both vulnerable. She didn't want Paige to feel threatened by what she was going to ask.

She led off with a gentle kiss to Paige's lips. "That was really sweet, what you told my Mom about keeping my picture in your office." Paige smiled, but her smile dimmed a little when she heard Emily sigh, indicating that there was more to the story. "Paige… Do you have Shana's picture in your office?"

Paige shook her head slowly. "Not anymore, but I did, when we were together."

"Oh." Emily looked down. "So, those things you said – they were really about Shana."

"Em, I'm not going to deny that I used to have feelings for Shana. But, no, I didn't say what I said about Shana. I had her picture up because it was the thing to do, you know? You're dating someone, you put her picture over your desk. But when I said what I said, it was about you. It was about that picture of us, from your cousin's reception, when we're raising our glasses for the toast... God, the smile on your face in that picture – it always puts me in a good mood."

Without realizing it, Emily duplicated that smile as she leaned in to give Paige a kiss. "Well, we'll have to print out a copy for your office."

Paige looked down. "I sort of… already have it at my office," she mumbled, too low for Emily to hear.

"What's that?"

Paige took a deep breath. "Okay, Emily. There's something that I've been keeping from you. I've been sort of… lying, I guess, to my co-workers. They think we've been dating." Paige cringed at Emily's potential reaction to this news. "And before you get mad," she added quickly, then paused, not knowing how to justify herself. "Well… Please don't get mad."

Emily hugged her, pulling her in tight. "You've really been pretending that we were dating?" Paige nodded apologetically. "Whoa… I thought I was the only one in this relationship crazy enough to try to pull that off!"

"They really want to meet you," Paige said shyly. "I keep making up excuses."

"Paige McCullers! You're asking me to _pretend_ to be your girlfriend?" Emily raised her eyebrows in fake surprise. "Okay," she said with a sigh. "I guess I can play along with your little charade. Will they expect me to kiss you?"

Paige rolled her eyes. " ** _I_** expect you to kiss me!"

Emily traded kisses with Paige, explaining, "Now, this is just practice, okay?"

Paige laughed. "I guess I deserved that."

Emily backed away, turning serious again. "There's something I've been meaning to ask you."

"Okay."

Emily's speaking slowed down. She wasn't sure how to frame the question. "Back when you told me that you had been practicing your dancing and…" Emily let the thought hang. Paige hid her eyes with her hand. She had a pretty good idea what Emily was going to ask. "I'm just wondering – it's been on my mind for a while: whom were you practicing on? - or, practicing with, I guess."

Paige shook her head out of embarrassment. She raised her right hand, showing Emily the back and front of it. Emily didn't pick up on what she was implying. "My hand," she explained.

"Really?"

"Pretty much. I mean, when I said I practiced, it was more like rehearsing. I did some research..."

"Research?"

"Research. 'The L Word,' some videos on YouTube, stuff like that. I needed to figure out, you know, the positioning of our bodies, based on our relative heights, and where the hands should go; how far apart to put the feet..." Paige could tell that she was giving way too much information. She didn't want it to sound as dry and clinical as it actually had been. "And stuff like that," she concluded self-consciously.

"I don't get it, though. Didn't you ever kiss Shana?"

"Oh, sure."

"So... Why did you have to do all of that research?"

Paige let out a deep sigh. "Because I wanted our kiss to be convincing, Em. And it had been a long time since Shana and I had a real kiss. And she and I never..."

Paige let the thought drop. Emily tilted her head in close, asking her to continue.

"It was never like the kisses with you, Emily. That's what freaked me out so much." Paige dipped her head, still guilty about the way that she had treated Emily. "It was just impossible to keep lying to myself that I wasn't cheating on Shana when we kissed. We may have been pretending, but the feeling when we kissed... there was no denying that."

"Yeah," Emily said dryly. "Tell me about it..."

Paige dipped her head again, so Emily lifted it with two fingers under her chin and gave her a soft kiss. It was in the past; there was no need to fret over past offenses anymore.

"When I told her about you – that you asked me to pretend we were going out, I told her that we were going to kiss."

"And she was okay with it?"

"She shrugged it off. The only thing she said was, 'Make sure the kisses are pretend!'"

"Wow." Emily put some distance between herself and Paige. "I wish you had told me, Paige."

Paige chuckled. "I know that I should have, Emily. And I know that it's wrong to say this, but I'm kind of glad that I didn't. I mean, if I had told you about Shana, you never would have let yourself get caught up in those kisses. And we wouldn't be here right now."

Emily bit her lip. She wanted to believe that she wouldn't have gotten carried away by those kisses if she had known about Shana, but she wasn't sure that was true.

Paige sat up a bit, angling her body towards Emily. "Emily, as much as I tried to tell myself that I was just helping you out of a jam, I can't deny that I was doing it for myself, too. And, even though I wouldn't admit it to myself, I really wanted that fantasy. I wanted to think that I could possibly be the girl in your profile picture, the girl who flies halfway across the country to go to a wedding and meet your parents. I wanted to think that I was more than just a screw-up by the mailman; that I could actually be... the kind of girl someone like you could fall for."

Emily kissed Paige's mouth shut. "Of course I could fall for you, Paige. Didn't I fall for you? Over and over?"

Emily kissed Paige with all she had, giddy, as she remembered the nights that she lay awake wondering what Paige's real kisses felt like, and the nights that she lay awake crying after kissing Paige only to have Paige push her away. All of it – all of the tears, all of the kisses, all of the pain – it was all worth it, to get them to the place where they found themselves at that moment.

Falling together.

* * *

Their pillow talk had gotten a little too serious for Paige. Without warning, she sprang to her knees and started rattling the headboard against the wall. "Let's wake your parents!"

Emily almost tackled her. "Paige! They're going to think that we're..." Emily gasped when she realized what Paige was up to. "Paige McCullers!"

"What?" Paige feigned innocence, looking up at Emily. It was the second time that day that she found herself pinned beneath Emily on the bed. "They think we moved in together," Paige argued. "They're going to expect us to celebrate. They'll probably be happy!"

Emily shook her head with an exaggerated eye-roll. When she thought it over, she giggled, embarrassed. "Okay, my Mom will probably be happy. My Dad, on the other hand..."

"Oops!" Paige smirked, obviously not sorry.

Emily climbed off of her. "Okay, come on!" She grabbed the headboard and started shaking it.

Paige, a little less sure of herself once Emily called her bluff, took hold of Emily's arm. "Uh... Emily?"

"Hey - I don't want them to think that you suck in bed!"


	14. Too Soon

"Anyway, we're lying in bed together..." Emily caught Hanna squirming in her seat, gripping her coffee cup with a knowing smile as she sat up a little straighter, so she reminded her, "and only because Paige lied to my parents that we had moved in together..."

"I thought you wanted her to pretend you were together," Aria pointed out innocently.

Emily sighed. She was having a hard time getting to the point of the story that she was trying to tell them. "Yes, together, but not living together! And I really didn't want to spend the night with her, when she has her secret girlfriend back at home!"

"So, why didn't you make her sleep on the floor?" Spencer asked.

"Because I knew my Mom would poke her head in the room first thing in the morning!" Emily was getting frustrated. "Anyway," she said, finally back to where she had been five minutes ago, "we're lying in bed together, and I'm so angry with her, and she says, 'Oh, by the way.'" Emily's head rocked back and forth as she mockingly relayed Paige's words. "'I broke up with my girlfriend!'" Her three best friends could hear the pain and anger in her voice.

There was a moment of silence as Emily let her news sink in.

"But... that's a good thing, right?" Aria asked tentatively, not wanting to add fuel to the fire.

"Maybe if she had told me sooner," Emily protested, her voice getting higher and her arms flailing. "Before I humiliated myself and begged her to pretend to be my girlfriend again! Before she connived her way into my bed!"

"So what did you tell her?"

"Ugh! I felt like smacking her! And, to make things worse, she just rolls over and goes to sleep, as if nothing's wrong. Meanwhile, I was up half the night trying to figure out what the actual fuck!"

"I can't believe you let her get away with it."

Emily scoffed. "I didn't, Spencer. I woke her up and made her talk about it."

"And?" Hanna prodded.

Emily sighed. "And, she said 'Well, you _know_ I broke up with her because of you.'"

"Wow."

Emily relaxed her body a little. "Yeah. Wow."

"So..." Aria didn't know how to ask. She didn't want Emily to get upset again. "You forgave her?"

"Yeah I forgave her!" Emily smiled lasciviously. "I forgave her all night long!" She broke into a laugh and high-fived Hanna. "I'm kidding! I'm kidding! We just, you know," Emily's voice got softer and she stared into her paper cup, rather than into any of her friends' eyes. "...kissed and made out a little. But we didn't want to go too fast."

"So, that's good news, right?" Aria smiled along with Emily's enthusiasm.

"I guess..."

"But?" Spencer prodded.

"I don't know. I mean, I'm just - it seems too fast. I just seem really invested in her already. Like, I was showing my Mom pictures of Paige's foster kids, and I was almost crying about it. Or, she brought out tea for my parents, and I felt, like, proud of her, you know?"

"And the problem is..." Spencer still didn't see what the issue was.

Emily sighed. "It just seems too soon?"

"Is it, though?" Spencer's tone was authoritative. "I mean, let's face it: you've had feelings for her for quite some time."

"Yeah - feelings of anger. And resentment."

"Yeah, Em, but that's just because you liked her. You know what they say about the skinny line."

Emily looked questioningly at Hanna, not knowing at all what they say about the skinny line.

"Between love and hate!"

Spencer opened her mouth to correct Hanna, but Aria touched her arm to stop her, cutting in to support Hanna's point. "I think so, Emily. You were angry because of she didn't told you that she had a girlfriend before you let her heart go after her. And you resented her at the wedding because she ran away from your feelings without saying how she felt, good or bad.

"But, my feelings at the wedding weren't real. I just got caught up in all the pretending."

"Well, sometimes, that's how feelings start," Spencer explained. "It doesn't matter what pushes people together; once they're together, the feelings have a chance to grow. Let's face it, if you didn't have any feelings for her, the dancing and the kisses wouldn't have moved you the way they did."

"Yeah," Hanna said, "and she wouldn't have freaked out about it if she wasn't worried about the fact that she was emotionally cheating on her girlfriend."

Emily shrugged her shoulders. "I guess. It still seems too soon." Even though she said that, Emily was glad for what her friends were telling her. They made a lot of sense. She didn't feel so silly for feeling so strongly for Paige.

"Emily," Spencer said, looking intently and sincerely into Emily's eyes, "you feel what you feel. There's no such thing as too soon."

Aria nodded. "Yeah. And, if you think it's too soon because Paige isn't moving at the same place, you should just ask her."

Emily was pretty sure that she could never ask Paige that.

"Where's Paige now?"

"She's in the City, doing all the Christmas things with my parents."

"Spending the day with your parents?"Aria rubbed her shoulder against Emily's. "God, Em, she's the perfect girlfriend!"

Emily shoved Aria playfully. "Girlfriend? Too soon!"

And that was the problem, Emily realized, with her relationships - the fake one and the real one - with Paige. By being fake girlfriends, they had skipped over all of the rungs on the relationship ladder. It was kind of like reading a book and skipping to the last chapter. Sure, it was nice to have the happy ending, but it meant skipping all of the good parts: the suspense, the feeling in the pit of the stomach when you start to wonder whether she has feelings for you, too; the sleepless nights spent rehashing and over-analyzing all of your moments together; the nervousness and fear of taking the first step; that moment of relief and jubilation when someone decides to be bold and take a chance.

Emily wanted to be wooed. Pursued. Hunted. Or to be the hunter. She missed the chase.

As they filed out of The Brew, Hanna hugged Emily from the side. "You're welcome," she said, simply.

Emily sighed. "Thank you, Hanna."

* * *

Pam kept giving Emily subtle smiles as they worked, mainly in silence, at getting the leftovers together for dinner. When Emily couldn't take it any longer, she asked what was up.

"Oh... nothing," Pam said, with a sly smile. After a pause, she added, "I see you took my advice to heart, about creating a Thanksgiving memory!"

Emily hid her face in her hands. She was mortified. She had pretty much forgotten about the little joke with the headboard. It was way down at the bottom of the list of interesting things that had happened on Thanksgiving. "Mom... we..."

Pam squeezed Emily's shoulder. "Don't worry about it, Emmy! I get why you wanted two wanted to celebrate! And, don't worry about your father. You know he can sleep through anything. I mean, he literally slept in a war zone!"

Emily maintained the embarrassed smile as one thought rolled through her head: _I am going to kill Paige McCullers!_

* * *

"Did my Mom say anything to you?"

Paige shook her head. "About what?" She couldn't figure out why Emily was upset.

"About last night? The banging on the walls?" Paige laughed. Emily shoved her. "It's not funny! She told me she was glad that we took her advice about making memories!"

Paige smiled. "See? I told you that your mom would be happy!"

Emily backed Paige against the bathroom sink, kissing her hard. "I am going to kill you, Paige McCullers!"

"Oh, admit it," Paige said, her arms low around Emily's waist. "You love me."

Emily scoffed, pushing away from Paige. "You're lucky I even put up with you."

As she turned away, she heard Paige say, "Well, I love you."

"Really?" Emily spun around quickly, unable to hide her smile.

Paige shrugged. Why not admit it, if that's how she felt?

Emily pulled Paige down to sit on her bed. "Doesn't it seem too fast?"

"I guess I never thought about it." Paige smoothed the hair away from Emily's cheek and gazed back at her.

"Yeah, you don't really examine things do you?" Paige shrugged. Emily sighed, climbing under the covers. "It just feels as if we leapfrogged over parts of our relationship, you know? Big parts. It's kind of like... making dinner in a microwave." Paige tilted her head, confused, at that. "It's fast, and it's convenient, but I kind of like the experience of putting a meal together, working in the kitchen. So many of the fun parts - the chopping, the measuring, the sauteeing - get taken away. Does that make sense?"

Paige nodded, lying next to Emily and pulling her in. "I'm sorry, Emily."

"It's okay. I'm not upset about where we are. It's just..." She groaned. "It's just confusing - like, being in this time shift. You know, our relationship when we're around my parents is running, like, six months ahead of our real relationship."

Paige smirked. "You're going to make me wait six months to move in with you?"

Emily laughed, smacking Paige on the shoulder. Turning serious again, she apologized. "It's my fault. I'm the one who started this whole mess by asking you to lie to my family."

Paige brushed her fingers through Emily's hair, letting them rest on her cheek. "Don't say it like that, Emily. It makes it sound as though you did something horrible. You just gave them a preview of our relationship, so they wouldn't worry about you."

Emily shrugged. "It feels as if I did something horrible. I mean, no matter how I justify it, it's still a lie."

Paige paused, giving Emily's words a chance to sink in before she replied. "Well, do you want to tell them?"

"Do you think I should?"

"Do I think _we_ should?" Paige emphasized the "we," to remind Emily that she wasn't alone in the deception, and that she wouldn't be alone in owning up to it. "I guess I'd have to say that it's your decision to make."

Emily sighed. "I'd just feel like such a fool."

Paige hugged her. "We don't have to make that decision tonight."

Emily nodded into Paige's shoulder, placing a kiss on her cheek. "I do, too, you know."

"You do?"

"Yeah. I love you."

Emily decided that Spencer was right. She felt what she felt, and the timeline didn't matter. And, even if her feelings began back before her cousin's wedding, when things were awkward and bad, the feelings were, nonetheless, valid. They were what they were.

* * *

Once again, Pam poked her head in the bedroom bright and early on Saturday morning. It was time to get the Christmas decorations up. This was serious business for the Fields family.

Paige had no way of knowing, but Pam and Wayne subtly judged Emily's friends - especially her girlfriends - on the way they handled this ritual. Emily couldn't have warned her, because she didn't know, either. Indeed, Pam and Wayne themselves were only aware of it on a subconscious level.

Paige passed with flying colors, laboring tirelessly, efficiently, and joyfully. Seeing how excited Emily was about the decorations got her excited as well. She loved to see Emily starry-eyed and amazed like - well, a kid on Christmas day.

When everything was hung up and lit up, they settled in front of the TV, with Paige's gingerbread cookies and some hot chocolate, to watch "It's a Wonderful Life" for the first time of the season. Emily could have recited all of the dialogue herself. By the time it got to the closing scene, Emily had both arms gripping Paige's arm tightly, with her head planted on Paige's chest. Paige teasingly handed Emily a box of tissues. Emily bristled at the joke, tightening her grip on Paige's arm in rebuke. Still, when Emily stood up to sing along with the cast on "Auld Lang Syne," a pile of tissues fell to the floor from her lap.

That night was bittersweet for Emily. She was so full of emotion from the day of decorating and from the movie that she was really glad that she didn't have to go to bed alone. Pam and Wayne were flying back to Texas on Sunday morning, so Paige would be sleeping in her own bed on Sunday night. And that was good; that was as it should be. But Emily had definitely become comfortable with having Paige's strong, warm body pressed against her through the night. It was too soon, she knew, for them to move in together. But she couldn't be blamed for feeling that it was too soon for Paige to move back into her own bed.


	15. Back to Reality

Emily rubbed her temples as she sat at her desk on Monday morning. She was having a hard time concentrating. The display on her monitor was fading in and out of focus.

She never could have predicted, the week before, that she and Paige would be in the position that they were in after her parents' Thanksgiving visit. She didn't know what to make of things.

Sunday night was the first that they had spent apart since they became official. Officially what, Emily wasn't sure. And, although she knew that it was appropriate for Paige to go back to her own house after the charade for her parents was over, she had three problems.

The first, and, perhaps, the least significant, was that she missed cuddling up in bed with Paige, and having Paige's smile as the first thing that she saw in the morning. Emily knew that she couldn't make decisions based on her physical needs, but that fact didn't make her feeling of loss any less real or intense.

The second problem was this time shift that she and Paige were in with respect to Emily's parents. In Pam and Wayne's eyes, Emily and Paige's relationship was a good six months ahead of where they were in real life. It wouldn't be long before Pam started dropping hints about when they were going to stop just living together and start getting serious about marriage. And what would Emily be able to say, if she and Paige weren't even living together by the time Pam started asking? And, there was the possibility – the inevitability, really – that, during one of their phone calls, Pam would ask to speak to Paige. Emily would be able to make up excuses, of course, but it would only have to happen a couple of times before Pam started to get suspicious; thinking that they were fighting or had broken up. "That's the problem with dating the girl next door," she could hear Pam say. "When things get tough, it's easy for her to run back home."

Maybe Paige was right. Maybe they needed to come clean with Pam and Wayne. After all, they were together now, so it wouldn't be too embarrassing to admit – not as embarrassing as it would've been for them to find out if Paige were still nothing but a neighbor.

But, what, exactly was Paige? That was the third problem; the one that was troubling Emily the most. What would happen when she got home from work? Should she stop by Paige's house? Would Paige stop by hers? Or would they go back to their neutral corners; back to their pre-Thanksgiving days – and, if so, would they slowly drift apart until they were back to just friends?

Emily sighed. She had been looking at the same report for almost an hour. She stood up and walked to the restroom, to get a change of scenery. She put some water on a paper towel and dabbed it against her face. She was getting a headache and considered leaving work early. After all, she wasn't really doing anything of value for the company anyway. She was usually one of the most diligent employees. But she usually didn't have that much on her mind.

Emily sat down just as her phone buzzed against the desktop. She turned it over quickly and cleared her throat, bracing herself for bad news. Paige had had second thoughts. Or she was only kidding. Or Emily had only imagined the past weekend

When she saw that the text was from Hanna, she was able to breathe again.

**HM: What's up w/ ur gf?**

Emily typed, "She's not my girlfriend," but deleted it. She didn't want to get sidetracked into that discussion.

**EF: Nothing.  
EF: ?**

**HM: She called & asked a ton of q's.**

Emily started to panic.

**EF: What questions?**

**HM: ur fave color, fave food, fave restaurant – shit like that  
HM: As if she's asking u on a date or smth.**

Emily noticed that her lips had curled into a smile. She was relieved that she wouldn't have to worry about how to behave around Paige when she got home. She could just go home be herself, and wait for Paige. Because, apparently, Paige was getting ready to make a move. Apparently, Paige had been listening, when Emily talked about what was missing from their microwave relationship. Even though it wouldn't be possible to go back and recreate that feeling of not knowing for sure how Paige felt about her, Paige was going to give her the romance and the courtship that she wanted.

And there it was: That feeling in her stomach that she had regretted missing.

Emily bit her lip, swiveling from side to side in her office chair. Her phone buzzed again.

**HM: Em?**

**EF: I guess we'll just have 2 see, won't we? :) :) :)**

**HM: Oh God.**

**EF: ?**

**HM: ur doing that heart-fluttery thing now, aren't u?**

**EF: maybe…**

**HM: writing ur name & her name & drawing hearts around them?**

**EF: haha. get back to work, marin! :p**

* * *

Emily peeked at Paige's house as she got out of her car. She saw a slight rustling in the curtains, and Paige gave her a nervous smile. Emily smiled back with a wave. She pointed her head and her thumb towards her front door, letting Paige know that she was heading inside. Paige nodded once. From her front door, Emily shot Paige another glance, wiggling her fingers in a wave.

Paige took a breath to collect herself, then took the two brown, paper shopping bags that she had loaded up with dinner and headed next door. She was nervous over what she was about to do, but she took comfort in the fact that, according to Hanna, Emily liked a surprise – a romantic surprise.

* * *

Emily answered the door with one shoe in hand as she took off the other one. "Oh, good," she said as she turned her back to Paige. "Can you help with this?" Now holding both of her shoes in her right hand, she used her left hand to lift her flowing hair off of her back, exposing her zipper.

Paige set the bags down and started unzipping. She paused ever so briefly as the first glimpse of black lace caught her eye. Emily swallowed a gasp.

Once again, she had gotten ahead of herself. Once again, their fake relationship had accelerated their real-life relationship. After sharing a bedroom with Paige for three nights – even though they never saw each other naked or even nearly naked, Emily had gotten a little too comfortable.

When the zipper was sufficiently down, Emily giggled nervously, grabbing the two sides of her dress behind her back to hold them together. "I'm just going to…" She pointed to the stairs with her shoes. Paige nodded once. Emily smiled and turned away, turning back quickly for a kiss on Paige's cheek and a shy "Thank you" before she scampered up the stairs.

Paige didn't mean to stare, but she couldn't help it that her eyes followed Emily all the way up to the second floor. At the top of the stairs, Emily looked down, self-conscious but, somehow, relieved to find that Paige's eyes were still on her. She gave another shy wiggle-wave with the hand that was holding the shoes before she trotted off to the bedroom.

Emily collapsed backward onto her bed. She didn't know why the fact that Paige had come over made her so happy, but she couldn't deny that it did. She heard some noises from the kitchen and realized that she should have told Paige that she could go ahead and make herself at home in the kitchen, since that was obviously what the shopping bags were about. It felt kind of good to know that she didn't have to; that Paige knew that she was welcome in her kitchen. _And in her bedroom._ Emily mentally slapped herself for that thought.

* * *

Paige started some vegetables simmering and began tossing a salad. She found one of Emily's tablecloths and set the table, opening a bottle of wine to let it breathe. She was enjoying herself in the kitchen, swaying to the music in her head and occasionally humming some lyrics. When she turned around and saw Emily in the doorway, she shrieked and hid her face, which was turning bright red. Emily started laughing. "How much did you see?" Paige asked demurely.

Instead of answering, Emily pinned Paige against the refrigerator and began kissing her like crazy. It was one thing to see Paige so relaxed and at home in her kitchen. But the way that she had been swaying her hips from side to side was too much for Emily. Emily grabbed a fistful of Paige's top around the navel as she pressed even harder against Paige's torso. Paige was moaning, weak-kneed, trying her best to keep up. She placed a hand tentatively on the back of Emily's yoga pants, not knowing whether or not that was appropriate. When Emily started grinding into her, moaning into her mouth as she kissed her harder, it was all the answer Paige knew needed. Paige rubbed against the fabric, enjoying the firm curves beneath it.

Things were heating up in a hurry.

Then, the smoke alarm went off.

"Oh shit!" Paige pushed Emily away in a panic and reached for the pan where the vegetables were burning on the stove. Once she grabbed it, she winced in pain, looking around for a second before she found a dish towel to wrap around the handle for the second attempt. Emily quickly located the lid and covered the pan, then flicked on the exhaust fan over the stove.

She was breathing heavily, but it was from the kissing, not the fire-induced adrenaline.

The phone rang, and an agent from the alarm company told her that the fire department was on the way. Emily asked the agent to cancel, explaining that it was just an overcooked pan and that she had things under control, but the agent told her that the fire department was required to respond every time a smoke alarm went off.

Paige was crestfallen, but Emily took it in stride. She laughed, hoping that laughter truly was contagious, and gave Paige a kiss on the cheek. "At least we'll find out how long it takes the Rosewood Fire Department to get here in an emergency!"

* * *

Emily started some coffee brewing. Paige, who had planned for them to head back to her house for dessert, ran over there and picked up the coffee cake that she had baked, along with some Entenmann's cookies. They set up some folding tables, set out the coffee and pastries, and waited for the firemen and their neighbors, who, no doubt, would wonder what all the sirens were about.

Emily neatened her place up a bit, not wanting the firefighters to think that she wasn't a good housekeeper. When they heard the sirens in the distance, she straightened her top and asked Paige how she looked. Paige nodded her approval. Emily fixed Paige's ponytail and ran her finger over a mark that she had left on Paige's neck. "You'd better wear your hair down," she advised. Paige dipped her head.

The Rosewood Fire Department barreled into the house on a mission. The captain made his way into the kitchen, pointed to the smoldering pan, and announced, "There it is!" as if he'd solved a mystery for the ages.

The young firemen stayed and enjoyed coffee and conversation with the couple and their neighbors. It turned out to be a nice way for Paige and Emily to introduce themselves as a couple to the neighbors, who had seen them doing couple-like things but had never been officially notified of what was going on between the two of them.

* * *

By the end of the evening, Paige was able to laugh about it. As they sat on opposite sides of the table over dinner at The Grille, it was Emily who appeared ill at ease.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah," Emily said with a soft sigh. "I was just thinking – this would make a great story to tell my family, you know? What started out as a romantic evening ended up with the fire department coming over, and that's how we got to let our neighbors know that we're dating."

Paige gave Emily's hands a squeeze. "I mean, we could still tell them that story," she offered.

Emily shrugged. "I guess. I'm just starting to think that you're right. It was one thing to pretend at the wedding, but to carry on this huge deception… I'm not sure that it's worth it."

Paige leaned back in her chair, nodding her head. "Well, as I said, I'll support you, whatever decision you make." Emily nodded, but Paige still read concern on her face. "I'll take you home." She reached across the table and gave Emily's wrist a squeeze. "It'll be okay."

* * *

Emily and Paige were holding hands, enjoying being together but not really talking as they rounded the final corner on their walk home. Emily expected Paige to walk her to her door, so she was surprised when Paige suddenly came to a stop. When Emily turned toward her, Paige took both of her hands. "Stay with me tonight?"

Emily gave her a half-smile and a quick nod. "I just need to pack some things." She gave Paige a kiss before she jogged to her porch, turning to wave at Paige before she went inside. Paige was grateful that it was a thank-you kiss, and not a kiss good night.

* * *

Emily nestled into Paige's arms under the covers and admitted, "I really didn't want to be alone tonight."

Paige kissed her temple. She knew that Emily hadn't wanted to be alone. That was why she had asked her to stay the night.

Cocky Paige would have told Emily that she knew; that she couldn't blame Emily for not being able to resist. But there was a different dynamic at play between the two of them that night, there in Paige's bed.

So, Paige simply told the truth: "I didn't want to be alone, either."


	16. Separate Holidays

Emily sighed. She didn't want to whine, but she couldn't deny her feelings. "I wish you didn't have to go."

"Sorry, Em."

"No." Emily sighed again. "I know you have to go. It just sucks that we have to be apart, our first Christmas together."

Paige groaned her agreement. "I wish you could go with me."

"Yeah. I do, too. I really want to meet Abby and Brendan."

"Well, yeah, I want you to meet them, too, but that's not what I meant." Paige blew out a puff of air and combed her fingers through her hair, nervously. She leaned in, playing with a strand of Emily's hair. "I wish you could go because I… I'll miss you." Emily smiled, but before she could reply, Paige started up again. "Emily, I know things are moving really fast…"

"But the buses run faster after dark."

"What?"

"Nothing – nothing. Just something stupid my Mom said when she was trying to get me to take you to my cousin's wedding."

Paige tilted her head, confused.

"You know, when I told her not to try to set me up with someone, because you and I were dating. She started making arrangements for you to come, and I told her that it was too soon to ask you, because we hadn't been dating long. So, she said, like, 'You're not getting any younger… The buses don't come around so often after dark, but when they do, they run faster.'"

"She may be right." Paige didn't have a clue what Emily was talking about, but she needed her to stop talking, so that she could get back to her point. And to the kiss. When she leaned in, Emily put her hand up, blocking their lips.

"Wait, Paige." Paige backed away, concerned by this hesitation. "I've been thinking about it, about how fast things are going, and I think I realized why I thought that we were moving too fast." Paige nodded her head expectantly. Emily sighed deeply. "I think it's because, in my past relationships, I was always too quick to give my heart away. And after you get burned by doing that a few times, you get a little gun-shy."

Paige tightened her lips. "I understand, Em. And, if we need to slow things down..."

"No, Paige. That's not what my point." Emily placed her hand on Paige's cheek. "My point is, after I talked it over with the girls, and after you told me that you loved me, I realized it wasn't too fast. I realized that, as strong as our feelings are, we can go as fast as we want."

With that, Emily moved the blocking hand out of the way, and Paige's lips curled into a smile, falling onto Emily's.

"I just didn't want you to think that I have any doubts."

Paige smiled and kissed her again.

"Or that you were rushing me." Paige leaned in again. "You know, so it didn't seem one-sided."

Paige chuckled out of frustration. "You know something, Emily?" she asked in a soft, husky voice.

"What?"

"I'm tired of talking." Paige met her lips again, this time, more deeply, ensuring that the verbal part of their conversation was over.

* * *

"Your parents are okay with the fact that we're spending Christmas apart?"

"Mm hmm."

"They're not worried that we're having relationship problems?"

"They know that you need to see your family. And, you know, we already spent the wedding and Thanksgiving with my family."

"So... shouldn't you be spending Christmas with me?"

"If I hadn't bought my tickets in advance!"

"So, next year?"

Emily rolled her eyes. "Paige, next year, we spend Thanksgiving with your family and Christmas with mine. Don't you know how these things work?"

Paige shrugged with an innocent smile. "I'm new to all this."

"I am too," Emily admitted "but I watch the Hallmark Channel!"

* * *

Christmas apart was hard, but they got through it with text, phone calls, and Skype. Emily even got to meet Abby and Brendan, but they were more interested in seeing their own images in the corner of the screen than in meeting the stranger filling up the rest of it.

Their New Years Eve Skype sessions ended with a kiss to welcome in the new year - one for each time zone.

Before too long, they were back to being neighbors again, and back to figuring out how far and how fast their relationship should go.

* * *

Paige turned on the light in the living room and gasped, clutching her chest, at the sight of a body on her couch. She started to breathe again when she realized that it was Emily - of course. Emily looked so peaceful and, Paige had to admit, so damned sexy with her legs curled up, one hand in her lap, the other balled into a fist in front of her chest, and her lips slightly parted as she breathed in and out rhythmically. Paige pulled the blanket that was resting over the side of the couch over Emily's sleeping body and Emily, without waking up, pulled it tight against her chest, flipping over to face the back of the couch.

Paige chuckled lightly to herself and made her way to the kitchen. She opened up the refrigerator and surveyed its contents, choosing a salad – something light, since it was already late.

She and Emily were going steady, to use the old term, at that point in their relationship. They didn't see each other every night, but they always had dinner together every Friday night, and Paige joined Emily and the other girls for brunch every Saturday morning. They spent the better part of most Sundays together.

It wasn't unusual for Emily to stop by in the evening, on a work night. On that particular night, Paige, who ended up having had to work late, deduced that Emily must have used the spare key to let herself in. She hoped that Emily wasn't too disappointed that whatever plans she had made for their evening had come to naught.

As she was assembling the salad, she heard Emily's footsteps stumbling toward the kitchen. Emily, who had wrapped the blanket around herself was still half asleep and unsteady on her feet. Her eyes were half closed, and there was a strand of hair plastered against the side of her face. "Hey," she said, her voice soft and raspy.

"Hey," Paige parroted.

"I let myself in. I hope that's okay." Emily climbed onto one of the bar stools at the kitchen counter and huddled under the blanket.

"It's fine. Of course." Paige caressed Emily's cheek. "Have you eaten?"

Emily shook her head. "What time is it?"

"8:30. Sorry – I had to work late."

"That's fine," Emily said with a yawn. "I just came by because…" Emily sighed. "I don't know. I was feeling a little lonely, I guess."

"Oh, come here!" Paige said, with her arms stretched out wide. Emily walked over, dropping the blanket, and letting Paige engulf her in her comforting arms. "Is anything going on?"

Emily shook her head. "I was just thinking about my Mom and Dad, and really missing them," she said. She felt Paige's chin against the top of her head, as Paige nodded.

"I know that feeling. I get that way about Abby and Brendan, sometimes."

Emily rubbed Paige's arm empathetically.

"I'm sorry I wasn't here for you," Paige said as the hug broke up.

"No, no," Emily replied. "It was good just to get out of the house. Away from the memories, you know?"

"I know."

Emily wrapped her arms around Paige's waist. "But I'm glad that you're here, now."

"Mmm." Paige kissed the top of Emily's head. Emily tilted her head up and kissed Paige in earnest. "I'm just putting together a salad. Do you want some?"

Emily nodded. "That sounds good." Emily smiled weakly and headed back to the stool, stopping to pick up the blanket on the way. She sat down, resting her head in her hand, and put her feet up on the bar between the two legs of the stool. "Paige… would you mind if I stayed here tonight?"

"Sure you can," Paige said, not missing a beat. "You know that, Em."

"Thanks…" Emily didn't know that, actually. It really felt nice to hear.

"Maybe," Paige said, pausing as she set a plate and some silverware in front of Emily, "we should plan to head out to see your parents."

"Paige…" Emily couldn't help smiling. Paige mirrored the smile, a little confused at the reaction.

Emily was going to tell Paige that she didn't have to do that, but, somehow, it came out as, "You'd really go with me?"

"Of course I would, Emily."

Emily rubbed Paige's arm amiably. She started pushing the salad round on her plate with a fork. "If… If we go… I think I want to tell them the truth about us."

Paige nodded.

* * *

When Paige got out of the bathroom after getting ready for bed, she saw Emily from behind, standing in front of the mirror that was on top of her bureau, putting a braid in her hair. Emily had borrowed a cropped, long-sleeved top, and as she raised her hands to her head, the top rode up, exposing the column of her spine, which Paige's eyes followed down to Emily's dimples and the nude panties below them. Emily smiled shyly at Paige's reflection and Paige looked away, ashamed for having taken advantage of Emily in her vulnerable state.

Emily turned slowly and walked toward Paige who was frozen in place, with one hand lifting the sheet and blanket as she prepared to climb in bed. The only things moving were her eyes, which followed Emily's every step. Paige's eyes working their way slowly from Emily's bare feet up to her navel and the hem of the top that danced above it.

Emily wrapped herself in Paige's arms, taking Paige's hands off of the sheet and placing them on the panties that had captured her attention moments ago. Paige couldn't help the way her palms squeezed the firm muscles there, as Emily forcefully, passionately, attacked her lips. Emily's hands were roaming under the front of Paige's loose sweatshirt, and it was driving Paige out of her mind.

"Paige," Emily whispered, "I... really need you tonight." She buried her head on Paige's chest, not sure what her reaction would be.

Paige raised her hands up to a more neutral spot on Emily's back. She needed to be thinking clearly. Her words came out halting and slow. "Emily - I don't know. I know you're in a vulnerable place tonight and..."

"I want this, Paige. I've wanted it for a long time."

Paige gazed deep into Emily's eyes. She nodded slowly. With another kiss, she reached for the hem of her top and pulled it over Emily's head, unable to stifle a gasp at what she had unveiled. As she laid Emily in bed, she whispered into her ear, "I've wanted this, too."

* * *

Early the next morning, when Paige awoke, she stroked Emily's back to wake her. When Emily turned to face her, she stroked her cheek. "What time do you need to get up for work?"

"Mmm..." Emily said sleepily, "Couldn't we just take the day off?"

Paige didn't need much convincing. "Okay!" she said with a shrug.

Emily's eyes widened that Paige had called her bluff. "Are you serious?"

Paige chuckled "Aren't you?"

"I... guess..." Emily reached over Paige, her breasts sideswiping Paige's, to grab her phone from the nightstand on the other side of the bed. Paige felt the heat emanating from Emily's body as it pressed against hers. "I just have to text my boss," Emily explained as she tapped away at her phone. "And to pee," she added as she set the phone down. With a quick kiss, she climbed over Paige and headed to the bathroom. Paige turned, leaning on her elbow as she followed Emily with her eyes, smiling at how uninhibited Emily was and how natural it seemed to feel for her to walk around unclothed in front of Paige. As Emily closed the door, she furrowed her eyebrows at Paige, seemingly confused about why Paige was smiling that way.

Emily emerged from the bathroom with her hands above her head, nonchalantly taking out her braid. She combed her fingers through her dark, abundant hair and shook it into place, smiling shyly at the sight of the dopey smile on her girlfriend's face. "What's the matter, McCullers? You've never seen a naked woman before?"

Paige stood up from the bed, letting the sheets fall away from her body. "Not one who looks like this," she said, running her hands over the contours from Emily's rib cage to her hips.

Emily put her hands on Paige's shoulders and gave her a kiss. "You're not so bad either," she said, tracing across Paige's collarbone from both sides to the middle with her index fingers. "Take a shower with me?" Paige nodded. Emily took her hand and led her into the bathroom. She turned to look at her once they were inside. "Paige, are you okay with what we did last night?"

"Oh, absolutely!"

Emily curled her upper lip. "It wasn't too soon?"

Paige took Emily's hands and pulled them up to her chest. "I was only worried that I was somehow taking advantage of you, after you said you were feeling lonely. But it wasn't too soon. Not for me, at least. I mean, I've known for a while."

Emily nodded. "I have, too. I love you, Paige."

Paige kissed Emily on the nose. "I love you, Em."


	17. The Hungry Owl

"I'm telling you, Paige," Hanna said, gesturing wildly, even though Paige couldn't see through the phone, "she's never going to go for it. Trust me! We've tried!"

"Well, maybe you didn't ask her the right way."

"You mean drunk? Because we tried that."

"No, not drunk," Paige said condescendingly. "Emily just needs the right motivation."

"Oh, believe me. We tried all kinds of motivation. When she was trying to get Maya to notice her, we tried to get her to sing 'Call me, Maybe' for her. When she and Maya were together, we thought it would be cute for them to sing a duet - 'Love is an Open Door.' After they split up, we got her _plastered_ for, 'Shake it Off.' She wasn't having any of it."

"Okay," Paige shrugged. "Maybe you're right. Maybe she won't go for it. But it'll still be fun. I've always wanted to give it a shot."

* * *

"Guys, seriously? The Hungry Owl? Paige is never going to go for this!"

"It was Paige's idea!"

"What is with this stereotype that lesbians love karaoke? Like, where does that even come from?"

"Emily," Spencer repeated, "it was _Paige_ 's idea!"

"Does she know that they do karaoke here?"

"Yeah."

"Oh, God. She's not going to try to..."

"Em, I told her you didn't do karaoke, no matter how hard we tried to get you wasted and drag your drunk ass up there." Hanna shrugged. "She just said that she was going to have fun, even if you didn't join her."

Emily groaned. "Is this why she didn't want to ride with us?"

"You guys are going to have to work that one out yourselves."

"All we know," Aria said with a consoling tone, "is that she said she had to come straight from work."

Emily sighed heavily. "I just know that she's going to try to drag me on stage."

* * *

Nothing was said about karaoke as the five friends ate dinner and shared some drinks in a booth on the other side of the restaurant from the stage. Emily was especially affectionate with Paige. She spent most of the evening with her arms wrapped around Paige's arm and her head on Paige's shoulder, giving her the occasional kiss on the cheek. "You love me, don't you?" When Paige nodded, Emily said, "You would never embarrass me or try to get me do anything I don't want to, right?"

"If you really didn't want to, I wouldn't want you to."

Emily settled back onto Paige's shoulder. "I love you," she said, looking straight ahead. "Please don't hurt me."

The ladies were getting rather lubricated over dinner, with the exception of Paige and Spencer, who held back because of the drive home. The alcohol was making Emily rather touchy, subtly above the table, where the touches were visible, and more overtly below the table, where only the effect on Paige was visible.

But it wasn't just the alcohol that had her going. As Emily observed the way that Paige got along with her friends, it warmed her heart. Paige had the ability to be crazy with Hanna, cerebral with Spencer, and artsy-strange with Aria. It didn't feel as though Paige was just putting in time with Emily's friends until she could get Emily all to herself. Paige seemed genuinely happy to spend the evening with them. Emily's friends meant the world to her, and so did the fact that Paige got along with them. And the fact that they got along with Paige.

* * *

"Paige is taking a long time in the restroom," Aria said innocently, not trying to imply anything.

"Oh, God! Oh, God! Oh, God!"

"Having flashbacks from last night, Em?" Hanna ducked out of the way of Emily's slap.

"No... I just know that Paige is going to try to get me to sing with her. And she'll get all hurt and offended when I say no, and..."

"And you won't get any of that sweet McCullers loving tonight?"

Emily glared at Hanna. Then, she sighed, and shyly nodded her head.

When the next song started up, and Emily heard a familiar voice, although she had never heard it singing before.

"Is that German?" Spencer mused out loud, with a sour expression on her face.

The best friends rounded the corner to the karaoke stage where Paige was holding court, singing Nena's "99 Luftballons," gyrating her hips out of rhythm with the music.

The dance moves were atrocious, but the German was impeccable.

Emily burst into laughter, covering her mouth with both hands, at the spectacle. Paige obviously didn't give a fuck. She was thoroughly enjoying herself and the reaction from the drunken crowd.

Emily wanted that. Not just Paige, but what Paige was experiencing. At that moment, she felt something that she'd never felt before: The desire to be up there, having a blast with not a care in the world.

But the song wasn't a duet, and she didn't speak German, and Paige was true to her word about not trying to get her up on stage, so Emily just hooted and cheered, dancing in her spot in the audience like that drunk girlfriend at a karaoke bar.

Emily thought the song was over, but it just slowed down for the last section. Paige sang the words right to her, staring deep into her eyes. Emily didn't know what they meant. The song, she thought, was some kind of protest song; - some twentieth-century, Cold War, world-on-the-brink, new wave thing - but the way that Paige was singing to her, it felt for all the world like a love song.

When Paige finished, she went from the stage straight into Emily's arms. Emily lifted her off the ground and spun her around. When she set Paige back on the ground, she kissed her as she never had before. She was so much in love with her at that moment. "Can we do one together?"

Paige's smile never broke. "Absolutely!"

"Du sprichst Deutsch," Spencer challenged after Emily dashed off to choose a song and get her name on the list.

"Natürlich!"

Emily came back, smiling eagerly. "We're third," she said, her words slightly slurred, as she captured Paige's arm.

It was an unexpected turn of events; Emily, who had feared that Paige would drag her up onto the stage, herself dragging Paige up there, in her zeal to do a duet with her. With one hand holding the microphone and the other curled into a fist, she did a simple side-step, pumping her arms, trying to coach Paige into the right rhythm. Ultimately gave up with a wave of frustration. The intro ended, and they began singing:

 _The phone rings in the middle of the night_  
My mother says, "What you going to do with your life?"  
Oh, Mommy dear, we're not the fortunate ones  
And girls, they wanna have fu-un  
Yeah, girls just wanna have fun!

By the end, Emily was whipping the crowd into a frenzy, clapping her hands above her head to get them to clap along, and holding out the microphone so that they could sing the refrain:

 _They just wanna_  
They just wanna  
They just wanna  
They just wanna

It was a little too much for Paige to handle. Emily's moves - and her confidence - were incredibly sexy. And Paige couldn't help notice the way that Emily's top and her skirt rose every time she clapped her hands above her head. If Emily hadn't been drunk - or if Paige had been drunk, too, she would've taken Emily into the ladies' room - and taken her in one of the stalls. She was afraid to take advantage.

* * *

Paige maintained a respectful distance as they walked out to the car. In the middle of the parking lot, Emily stopped and looked deep into Paige's eyes. Paige dipped her head under the intensity of the gaze, and the intensity of the love that she felt for Emily in that moment. After a split second of contemplation, Emily shook the hair away from her face and moved tenderly in for a kiss. She misfired on her first attempt but reset quickly, her lips gentle against their target. She felt Paige's arms grab hers, underscoring the connection that they were making with their lips. As their lips parted, Emily rocked slightly on her feet. It wasn't the drink. It was the intensity; the same intensity that she was conveying with a look into Paige's eyes.

Emily was clingy in the car. At every stop light, she tilted Paige's head toward her and, with her hand on Paige's stomach - sometimes higher, occasionally lower - started kissing her with abandon. Paige was her driving with right hand, leaning her head on the left as it rested on the armrest in the door. Her left leg was bouncing up and down.

She wasn't nervous. Just impatient.

When they finally pulled up to their street, Emily asked, "Are you staying over?" She was rubbing the inside of Paige's thigh, slowly, steadily, purposefully.

Paige looked over her, smirking at the obviousness of the question. "Oh yeah."

* * *

From Emily's bed, Paige watched Emily's body - the lower half of it, anyway - moving swiftly back and forth as Emily furiously went through her nightly facial cleansing. Emily looked over at Paige occasionally, smiling shyly at the attention Paige was giving her. When she finally finished, she sauntered slowly over to the bed, with a little extra wiggle in Paige's favorite part of her anatomy. "See something you like?" she asked, in a soft, sultry voice.

Paige rose, her hands automatically landing on Emily's ass. "I'm just wondering where I should send the thank-you note."

"Thank-you note?"

"For the person who invented yoga pants."

Emily smiled lasciviously. "Well, if you like the pants," she said, rapidly stepping out of them, "wait till you see what's inside!"

As the pants dropped, Paige dropped, collapsing to her knees in front of Emily, her hands on Emily's ass, pulling her in. Emily tossed her head back and grabbed a fistful of Paige's hair, guiding her head as it wriggled into her.

"Wait!" Emily touched Paige's shoulders, signalling for her to stand. When she did, Emily lifted the top over her head and began kissing her. Emily's hands moved down Paige's back as she wriggled Paige's boxers down to her ankles. "I want to see you dance," she said, and she pushed Paige down on the bed.

* * *

"Hey," Emily said, when she saw that Paige was finally awake.

"Hey," Paige echoed in a husky, morning voice.

"You were really out," Emily remarked, lightly tracing her finger down the valley between Paige's breasts.

"What time is it?" Paige asked through a yawn.

"10:30."

"Not bad for a Saturday," Paige observed.

"10:30 PM."

"Oh, hush," Paige said, laughing as she shoved Emily onto her back. "You're _good,_ but you're not _that_ good!"

Emily rolled up next to Paige again. "Last night was so perfect, Paige."

"I told you that I wouldn't make you do anything you didn't want to do."

"Well, thank you. And thank you for finding a way to make me want to get up there. I haven't had so much fun since I was a kid!" Emily kissed Paige. "But it wasn't just that. It was the way you got along with Hanna, Spence, and Aria. And, you know. The way you just had so much fun, the whole evening."

"You light up my life, Em."

"I love you, Paige."

"I love you, Emily."

Emily kissed Paige hard, squeezing the bare flesh that lay beneath her fingertips. "I'd better stop," she said with a sigh, "or we're never going to get out of this bed."

"Mmm," Paige moaned into Emily's mouth, pulling Emily on top of her. "You're going to have to come up with a better reason than that to get me to stop!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My first choice for their duet was, "Next Door to an Angel," by Neil Sedaka, but I thought I might as well go with something that there's a chance that some of you youngsters have actually heard of! :) Thanks for reading! :)


	18. Kids

"I got some good news today," Paige replied, when Emily asked why she was smiling. "Abby and Brendan are coming out to see me next month. They're going to be spending their spring break with me. I was able to clear it with my boss, so I can take the week off."

Emily stood up from the table and walked next to Paige, who stood up for the hug. "That's great news, Paige!"

"Yeah. I can't wait." Paige dipped her head as she took her seat. "I guess it means that we won't be seeing as much of each other during that week, though."

"Oh." Emily retreated to her seat, trying her best to hide disappointment. Even though she had never met Abby and Brendan, she somehow felt a bond with them through Paige. But, she knew that Paige needed to have some time alone with the kids, and that she, herself, really didn't have any right to expect that she would be included in that. "No, I understand, Paige."

Paige knit her brow, unsure what Emily's response meant. "Emily, I know that it's too soon to... to bring kids into this relationship." Emily bit her lip and looked down into her lap. "I mean," Paige continued, reading Emily's body language, "I would love for you to meet them - I really would. I just didn't think it would be fair of me to ask you to... to..."

Emily looked at Paige, fighting back tears. "Paige, _of course_ I want to be a part of your kids' lives! I want to be a part of every part of your life." Emily wiped her eye with the back of her hand.

"God. I'm so sorry, Emily. I just... Well, my ex... she always thought that I was crazy for taking them in. Believe me, I wasn't trying to shut you out. I just didn't want you to feel forced into anything."

Emily nodded. "You're not forcing me," she said softly.

"Okay. You forgive me?"

Emily shrugged. "It was just a misunderstanding."

Paige walked over and held Emily close. "I'm glad we talked." With a kiss to Emily's forehead, she added, "Let's always talk."

* * *

Emily watched Paige's face, the way that it lit up, as they waited for the kids in the open area outside the security doors in the terminal. Abby stepped through and looked around until she spotted Paige; then, she ran, leaping into Paige's arms. Brendan was more subdued. Paige had told Emily that, while Abby was outgoing, Brendan was more reserved, and would probably take some time to warm up to her. He walked up to them slowly, never taking his eyes off of Emily. It was obvious that she and Paige were together. He stopped about a foot and a half away from her, still staring up at her. Emily bent at the waist, tucking her hands between her legs. "Hi, Buddy!"

Brendan never said a word. He just stretched his hands upwards. Emily glanced at Paige before she extended her arms to her sides. When she did, Brendan leaped up, wrapping his little legs around her waist and his arms around her neck. He planted his head on her shoulder. He was clearly not going anywhere.

Paige let Abby down and held her hand as the chaperone from the airline, who had matched Paige and Emily's faces with their pictures before she let the children run to them, approached her. Paige signed off on the paper and turned to go.

"Hey, Bren," Paige said, looking into his tired eyes, "why don't you get down and let Ms. Emily hold your hand?" Brendan quickly turned his head to the other side, away from Paige, and tightened his grip around Emily's neck. It made her heart melt.

"He's fine," she said through a laugh, giving Brendan a kiss on the head.

* * *

Abby pointed out her suitcase and her brother's when they showed up on the carousel. Hers looked to be new, and she was pretty excited that she got to pull it behind her as they walked to the car. Paige pulled Brendan's suitcase. He was a little young to do it himself, and, besides, wasn't budging from Emily's arms. When they got to the car, Abby climbed into her booster seat and fastened her seat belt. Emily got Brendan into his car seat. He never took his eyes off of her smiling face as she strapped him in. When she asked whether or not the straps were too tight, he shook his head no. She stroked from his hair down to his cheek, and he said a soft, "Thank you," the first words he had uttered in Pennsylvania.

As Emily climbed into the car, Paige smiled at her from the driver's seat. She tipped her head back at Brendan in the back seat, her smile a mixture of pride, joy, and love.

Paige rubbed Emily's thigh, letting her hand rest there. Brendan's obvious bond with Emily was comforting. Children, Paige had come to learn, were good judges of character, having an innate ability to figure out whom they could trust. The fact that Brendan had taken to Emily immediately somehow validated Paige's feelings for her.

"You kids hungry?" Paige asked, tilting her head towards the back seat as they got on the highway.

"Yes!" came the loud and enthusiastic chorus in reply.

"What do you want to eat?" Paige winked at Emily.

"McDonald's!" was their unanimous vote. Apparently, it was one of their traditions.

"Now, Paige," Emily said soberly, "I'm sure that their mother would appreciate it if you kept them on a healthy diet!"

"Awwww!"

"I think we should take them to the Broccoli Palace!"

"Ewwww!"

* * *

Emily carried Brendan with one arm and held Paige's hand as they walked through the parking lot into McDonald's. Paige was also holding Abby's hand. She didn't know whether she wanted to laugh or cry. Her face decided to smile.

It felt like having a real family; like _being_ a real family: the woman she loved, and the kids who meant the world to her. But, like attending Emily's cousin's wedding with her, it wasn't real. _Not yet_ , a voice deep within her insisted. Looking at Emily, she knew that they would have a family of their own, someday. Somehow. It didn't matter when.

* * *

"Mommy P," Abby said questioningly, as Paige helped her wash her hands in the McDonald's restroom, "it's okay for a girl to hold hands with a girl?"

"Yeah," Paige said, not really thinking. "Of course it is, Abby. You know that."

"I know that it's okay at home, but I wasn't sure that it was okay around people."

Paige knit her brow as she thought it over. It didn't take long for her to figure it out. _Shana_. "Is this because of Ms. Shana?"

Abby nodded, leaning her head backwards to look up at Paige. "She wouldn't hold your hands the way Ms. Emily does."

Paige tried not to let her anger show. Of course, Abby had picked up on the fact that Shana would never be seen showing affection in public. Kids are so perceptive; their developing brains looking for patterns as they try to figure out the way that the world works. And Shana's behavior had taught Abby that there was something wrong with women holding hands in public; that it was only permissible behind closed doors.

"Ms. Shana was just shy," Paige lied, trying her best to explain her ex-girlfriend's behavior.

"I'm glad that Ms. Emily's not shy," Abby said. "It's not fair that only boys and girls get to hold hands."

Paige hugged her. "No, Honey! It's not!" As Paige opened the door for Abby, she asked softly "Do you like Ms. Emily?" She had mixed feelings about putting Abby in that position, but she had a pretty good idea what her answer was going to be. Asking her was a way of letting Abby know how she, herself, felt about Emily.

Abby nodded.

"Good," Paige said, with a single nod of her own. "She likes you, too, you know. She couldn't wait to meet you and Brendan."

"Brendan _loves_ Emily," Abby said, laughing.

As if to prove her point, when they got back to the booth, they saw that Brendan had climbed into Emily's lap. Her face was pressed against his and she was holding his hand, guiding it as he traced a blue crayon around one of the clouds from the activity page that came inside his Happy Meal. The two of them barely registered Paige and Abby's return.

* * *

That evening, Emily helped Paige get the kids cleaned up and ready for bed. When they tucked the kids in and kissed them good night, Brendan insisted that he wanted Emily to read him his bedtime story. Emily read him two stories, then rubbed his forehead lightly until he fell asleep.

She found Paige in the bathroom and interrupted her in the middle of brushing her teeth to give her a long, tight hug from behind. Paige spat out what was in her mouth. "You okay?"

Emily nodded into Paige's shoulder. "I just love those kids so much." Paige turned around and continued the hug, rubbing Emily's back before Emily stepped away. "It must have been so hard for you to lose them," she observed.

"Yeah," Paige said softly.

* * *

As they lay holding each other in Paige's bed, Emily said, "It felt like a real family today, didn't it?"

"That's exactly what I was thinking!"

"We have to get some pictures," Emily said. "My Mom would be so happy."

Paige kissed Emily. "I'd be pretty happy to have some pictures, too!"

Emily rubbed Paige's chest. "God. It must've torn you apart to have to let them go."

Paige's sigh said it all. "I mean, it was what was best for them. And it's really good to see that they're doing well. That the whole family is doing well - well, better."

Emily nodded. They lay silent for a long time.

"We should get a dog!" Emily announced, sitting up in the bed. Paige just laughed. "What? The house is going to be so empty when they leave!"

"Okay, first of all, you _do_ know that we don't actually live together, right?"

Emily sighed, sadly. "I know." She lay back down, and the room grew silent again.

A moment or so later, she heard Paige's soft voice. "We can get a dog," she assured her.


	19. Family Time

Emily got up early on Sunday morning. She wanted to get to the office and take care of a couple of things, to clear off her desk so that she would be able to spend the rest of the week with Paige and the kids. She was hoping that she would be able to get back before the kids woke up, especially since they were still a couple of time zones behind Rosewood, with the jet lag. It didn't work out that way. Work ended up taking more time than she anticipated.

Paige had breakfast ready and on the table by the time she woke Abby and Brendan. She knew that, if they saw her working in the kitchen, they would want to help, and her kitchen wasn't exactly childproof.

Brendan seemed enthusiastic, if disoriented, when Paige woke him, but that changed quickly when he got to the kitchen. All of a sudden, he wasn't hungry.

Brendan sat forlorn in his booster seat, resting his head on his hand.

"Are you okay, Brendan?"

He shrugged his shoulders.

"Do you miss being home?"

He shook his head.

"Do you miss your mom?"

He started to shake his head, but shrugged instead.

"Do you want to call Ms. Emily?"

Brendan's face lit up a little, but he played it cool, with his best nonchalant shrug.

When Emily saw the facetime request from Paige, she swiped her phone to life and started to say, "I'm hurrying!" When she saw that it was Brendan's face and not Paige's, her expression and her tone softened immediately.

"Hi, Buddy!"

Brendan lips curled up slightly. He suddenly got shy, half-hiding his face into his shoulder.

"Is everything okay?"

Brendan shrugged weakly.

"Someone's lost his appetite," Emily heard Paige's voice say in the background.

"Aw, Sweetie, don't you feel good?"

"No," he said, barely audibly.

"Does your tummy hurt?"

"No."

"I made all these pancakes," Paige explained, "but he can't enjoy them."

"Oh, Honey…" Emily pouted sympathetically. "Can you do me a favor?"

"Yesh." Brendan sat up straight and gazed intensely into the phone.

"Can you try to eat some pancakes for me? I promise I'll be home soon, and I want you to have lots of energy, so that we can go do something fun together, okay?"

"Okay."

"Okay. I love you, Hon."

"I ove you, Ms. Emwee."

Paige moved the phone up to her face, and Emily put her hand on her heart, pouting adorably at the cuteness of it all. "Thanks, Em."

"Okay, Paige. I'm hurrying," Emily whined.

* * *

Paige let the kids help with the dishes after breakfast, even though they were making more than actually cleaning. They had fun. Brendan had eaten like a champ, and was back to his normal self, even without Emily there.

"Who's that?" Paige gasped enthusiastically when she heard the tumblers in the door rattle.

"Ms. Emwee!" Brendan yelled. He started to run toward the sound, but Paige restrained him until Emily had opened the door. She didn't want Emily to hit him on the head with the door or for him to knock her over, when she wasn't expecting him.

Once Emily was inside, Paige loosened her grip on Brendan's shoulder, and he took off. Emily dropped her bag, got down on one knee, and met him with a hug.

"I ate a wot of pancakes!"

"You did?" Emily matched his enthusiasm as she stood, picking him up.

"Uh huh!"

Emily tousled his hair. Paige and Abby joined them in the foyer, and Paige shook her head slowly. Emily gave her a kiss and asked why she was shaking her head.

Paige rolled her eyes with a sigh. "I remember when he used to look at _me_ like that," she said, pretending to be hurt. Brendan reached over with one arm and hugged Paige. When she tried to take him from Emily's arms, though, he quickly moved his arm back around Emily's neck.

They got the kids dressed and loaded into the car, headed for the Dutch Wonderland Amusement Park in Lancaster's Pennsylvania Dutch country. The kids loved it. They dragged Paige and Emily from attraction to attraction, pointing out every point of interest they saw, as if Emily and Paige would have been unable to see it without their guidance.

To anyone watching, they would have seemed like an actual family. It certainly felt like family - to Emily, at least. She had a hard time remembering that the kids weren't her kids, and that Paige wasn't… She paused at that thought, smiling to herself as she looked over at Paige.

"What's wrong?" Paige asked, smiling back at her, having seen something in Emily's smile.

Emily paused for a second or two before she responded, "Nothing. Nothing. Just give me a kiss, okay?"

Paige gladly complied, giving Emily a quick kiss and a warm hug.

* * *

They got plenty of pictures on the trip, including one where they put their heads into a wooden frame that was painted with the image of a typical Amish family, with cut-outs where the heads would go. Paige and Brendan stood behind the cutouts of a man and a child in black pants and suspenders, under a straw hat. Emily and Abby's cut-outs were wearing bright blue dresses with a white, floral print. The picture went up to facebook immediately.

After a long day at the park and a drive back which put everyone except Paige to sleep, the four of them met Emily's friends for dinner.

Abby went wide-eyed when she saw Hanna. "You're _pretty!_ " she oozed.

Hanna hugged her from the side. "You're pretty, too!"

"Can I have lips like yours?"

"Actually, Abby…" Paige began. Before she could finish, Hanna was fishing around in her purse.

"I don't see why not!" Hanna announced as she brandished her lipstick. She grabbed Abby by the chin, tilting her head up, and pressed the stick against her lips. "Now go like this," she coached, rubbing her lips together and then pouting with them. Abby mirrored the gesture. "Girl," Hanna told her, "your lips are on fleek!"

By the end of the meal, that was Abby's new phrase. Everything was " _on fleek."_

"This restaurant is on fleek!"

"Our server is on fleek!"

"This cheeseburger is on fleek!"

"Hanna, your car is on fleek!"

Even Brendan picked up on it.

Hanna smiled smugly. Paige just shook her head. She wondered how long she was going to have to put up with Abby's new favorite phrase, and how she was going to explain it to the children's mother.

* * *

Paige noticed the way that Emily smiled to herself when she opened a text in the middle of the meal. "What's that?" she asked. "Good news?"

Emily closed her phone quickly. "My Mom," she sighed. Trying to play it off as a joke, because she wasn't sure how Paige would react, she explained, "She saw the pics from Dutch Wonderland, and she asked whether there was going to be an 'announcement' soon." Emily squeezed Paige's shoulder, laughing a bit too hard at what she had told her. She didn't want to freak Paige out with the knowledge that her mother was thinking that way – or that she, herself, was, too.

Paige hugged Emily from the side and kissed her on the temple. She didn't give Emily any indication of how she felt about the question, but she didn't pull away in surprise or suggest that they would need to slow things down and correct Pam's misconception. Emily took it as a good thing.

* * *

The week passed too quickly, and, before they knew it, Paige and Emily were at the departure terminal, saying their good-byes to Abby and Brendan. Brendan was clinging tight to Emily. She wiped his tears away and told him, in low, comforting tones, that he had to be her brave big boy; he had to smile on the plane, and he had let his mother know how much he had missed her.

The need to comfort him was the only thing that kept her own tears at bay. She knelt on one knee, lowering him to the floor for a final hug and kiss. She gave Abby a hug and kiss of her own, asking her to take care of her little brother. Paige got in her hugs and kisses, too, before they handed the children over to the escort from the airline.

As soon as they were out of sight, Emily fell into Paige's arms, letting out all of the tears that she had been stifling. Paige held her tight, much as Emily had held Brendan, her need to be strong for Emily the only thing keeping a lid on tears of her own. "Oh, God!" Emily wailed, "I had no idea that it would be this hard!"

Paige nodded against Emily's forehead. She knew. She had been through it before. She was silent as she held Emily, trying to process what it meant that, in such a short time, Emily had formed such a strong, deep bond with her foster kids. It was telling Paige things that she and Emily had never discussed; things that it was too soon to discuss. Children have a way of being a catalyst. The implications of the bond that Abby and Brendan catalyzed between Emily and Paige was something that Paige was going to have to think deeply about.

Emily was subdued on the drive back to Rosewood. Paige kept an unflinching grip on her hand. When they made it back home, Paige asked, "Your place?"

Emily shook her head. "Yours."

They had never really discussed moving in together. It had just sort of evolved that they stayed over, either at Paige's house or at Emily's. Usually, it went without saying which house it would be on a given night, but sometimes, they needed to ask.

After spending the week with Paige and the kids, Emily wasn't ready to head back to her house. She didn't want to step out of the family bubble just yet.


	20. Empty Nest

That night, after the painful good-byes at the airport, Paige was the big spoon in bed. Emily just needed to be held.

"The house seems so empty without them, doesn't it?" Emily sighed. "Oh, God - I sound like a sixty year old empty-nester!"

Paige squeezed Emily's hand. "I know how you feel, Em. I remember when I had to say good-bye to for the first time."

Emily turned over to face Paige, suddenly feeling insensitive for never having asked how Paige was handling things. She put her hand on Paige's cheek. "Shit. I'm so sorry, Paige. I've only been thinking about myself."

"It's okay," Paige said with a smile.

"It's not okay. I'm acting like the victim here, and they're not even my kids!"

Paige chuckled. "Try telling that to Brendan." Paige silently stroked Emily's arm for a few moments before she spoke again. "My ex never really cared to spend time with them," she said sadly. "I mean, she would never have taken time off from work to spend the week with us." Emily nodded. "I guess what I'm saying is, it really means a lot to me that they mean a lot to you."

Emily gave Paige a soulful kiss before she turned over, pulling Paige's arm around her waist, as she settled in for the night.

* * *

"Yeah, it was," Paige said into her phone. "I mean, as hard as it was to see them leave, it was more than worth it, having the two of them with me again. As much as I miss them, I still don't think I realized how much until they were actually here, you know?"

"Well," Paige continued, "she made it a lot easier to get through. Honestly, I'm not sure that I could've handled saying good-bye again, without Emily here."

Paige stepped out of the kitchen and saw Emily standing there, awkwardly, in between steps. She grabbed Emily's arm to stop her from turning aside, mouthing the word, "stay" to her know that it was okay that she was overhearing. "I think so, too, Mom," she continued, smiling at Emily. "Well, thanks for calling. I appreciate the thought... Yeah, I'll be okay." She winked at Emily. "We'll be okay. Okay. I love you. Good-bye, Mom."

Emily gave Paige an apologetic look. "Your mom?"

"Yeah," Paige said with a wistful smile.

"Sorry - I didn't mean to eavesdrop. I was heading into the kitchen and I kind of got..."

"I know you didn't, Em," Paige said, running her fingers through Emily's hair.

"So your mom's okay?"

"Yeah. She actually just called to make sure that I'm okay. You know, after..." Emily squeezed Paige's arm. "She says hi, by the way. She loved the pictures of the four of us."

Paige led Emily back into the kitchen, where she poured out cups of coffee for them. "Your dad's good?"

"Oh, yeah. My Dad's fine, I guess."

"You two don't really talk?"

Paige chuckled. "My Dad's more the strong, silent type - emphasis on 'silent.' I mean - he's my Dad... We always got along. Things kind of changed when I hit puberty. I think he didn't really know how to relate to me, you know? I mean, if it hadn't been for field hockey and swimming, I don't know what we would've talked about."

Emily pouted sympathetically. Paige shrugged. "It's fine. I mean, it's not as if he doesn't love me - or he disowned me when he found that out I like girls. He's still my Dad. And we actually get along a little better, now that I'm an adult."

* * *

In the days that followed Abby and Brendan's return home, things grew awkward for Emily and Paige. The quantum jump they had taken under the influence of the kids had put them in a place where they weren't prepared to be and didn't know how to navigate. It wasn't that it was a bad place, but it was confusing.

They were confused about what they were feeling; or, more accurately, how they had come to feel what they were feeling. And they were terrified of how the other would react if she had any idea the of the depths of those feelings.

Neither one would have guessed that what they were agonizing over separately was remarkably similar.

Emily worried about how quickly she had given her heart to Abby and Brendan; how natural it had seemed to insert herself into their lives with Paige; how it had hurt her to lose them more than it had hurt to lose her ex girlfriend.

Paige worried about how comfortable she had become raising a family with Emily; the way that she treated Emily not as a helpful girlfriend but as a co-parent; how it had come to feel like an established thing, not just a week-long bump.

But they were used to pretending, in their relationship. Pretending was, after all, how their relationship got started in the first place. Perhaps, Paige worried, Emily was being a good sport to pay her back for the favor that she had done for her.

Paige noticed how awkward the time she spent with Emily had become. She attributed it to the fact that she had scared Emily away by moving too fast. So, she tried to dial things back, subtly.

Emily assumed that Paige was being more distant because Emily had gotten too close. She understood. She tried harder to respect Paige's boundaries.

* * *

"Gosh, Em!" Hanna bumped shoulders with Emily. "You and Paige were like this cute little family with those kids last week!"

Emily's smile was a little unsure, and she shifted her gaze to her coffee cup. "I know, right?"

"Does it freak you out?" Aria asked, picking up on Emily's change in body language.

Emily sighed as she swirled a spoon around in her coffee. "I guess... it freaks me out that it _doesn't_ freak me out, you know?" She shifted her eyes from Aria to Spencer, figuring that Spencer would have more of a chance of understanding what she was saying. "Like, when we were pretending to date, and we kissed, and the kisses got to me, you know?" Emily waved her hand in front of her face, ashamed of herself. "I'm just getting way ahead of myself - way ahead of Paige."

"I don't know about that, Em. Have you talked to her about it?" Emily shook her head. She didn't need to talk to Paige. Paige was making her feelings clear without words.

"But you guys have moved in together?" Spencer asked.

"Not... really."

"Only because they can't choose a house!" Spencer looked at Hanna for an explanation. "They spend the night together every night. It's just a question of whose bed."

"We've never talked about it," Emily pleaded. "It just kind of worked out that way."

"Em, you make it sound like some kind of happy accident," Hanna said, waving her hands in the air. "But you know that you want her there with you at night." Emily shrugged. "And you know she wants you!"

"I don't know that, Hanna!" Emily said sharply.

Hanna rolled her eyes and her head. "Oh, whatever, Emily."

Aria gave Hanna a look and took Emily's hands, to calm her down. "Emily, do you want something more out of your relationship with Paige?"

Emily breathed deeply through her nose, moving her head back and forth as she tried to come up with the words. In the end, she just nodded.

"Well, don't you think that you should talk it over with her?" Spencer asked.

"Either she wants the same thing," Aria pointed out, "or you guys want different things, and you have to start thinking whether or not you want to move on."

Emily pushed her fingers through her hair, sinking back against the booth. She wasn't sure that she wanted to know. She couldn't even think about moving on from Paige. Would it be so bad to delude herself and stay in a relationship that wasn't going anywhere? Would that be worse than losing Paige?

Hanna had been uncharacteristically silent, fiddling about on her phone. After a few moments, she shoved the phone in Emily's face, showing her picture after picture that Emily had taken the week before, with Paige and the kids. There was no misreading Paige's smiles - or Emily's. And the pictures reminded Emily of the nights that followed, when she and Paige lay awake in bed talking over how the days had gone, laughing over what the kids had said and done, figuring out what they were going to do the next day. If that was just casual - if it wasn't commitment - if it wasn't _family_ \- then Emily didn't know what family was.

"We decided that, when we go to see my parents next month, we're going to tell them the truth about our relationship," Emily announced. "I guess it would make sense for us to have the talk between the two of us before we talk it over with my parents."

* * *

Emily sat on Paige's couch with her hands on her lap, fingers intertwined. Paige was standing across from her, one arm folded at her waist, supporting the other arm as she twisted her lower lip between her fingers. Emily had come to recognize it as Paige's thinking pose. It used to drive her crazy; she wished Paige would just sit down and talk with her. It was unnerving to see her standing, seemingly aloof.

Emily leaned forward, took a deep breath, and leaned back again as she let it out. "Okay. Well, first of all, Paige, I'm sorry. I... I've been racing ahead in our... relationship ever since we started going together." Emily rolled her eyes. "Well, ever since before we started going together." Emily stood up and paced back and forth in front of Paige's couch, like a creature protecting its lair. "Anyway, what I wanted to say is..." Emily sighed deeply. "I care about us... this. And I know that I'm going too fast. But, Paige," Emily walked over to her and put both hands on the forearm that was anchored in front of her waist. "I'm willing to slow things down. I'll go at whatever pace you're on. As long as we can go together." Emily took a slight step back, her hands still on Paige's arm, and nodded her head, hoping to coax Paige into nodding the same way.

Paige relaxed her shoulders and laughed lightly, spreading her arms out wide. Emily walked into the hug, frankly disappointed at how quickly Paige accepted the "Get out of jail free" card. She had hoped that Paige would at least discuss it with her; maybe give some indication that she was willing to change her pace, too.

"Emily," Paige said, pushing out of the hug so that she could see Emily's eyes, but keeping her hands on Paige's shoulders. "That's what you thought was going on?" Before Emily could respond, Paige pinched the bridge of her nose. "God - and all this time..." She shook her head. "Emily, I've been worried about the same thing. I mean, it just felt so much like - a family, when Abby and Brendan were here. I stopped thinking of us as girlfriends and started to think that we were... a family. And I was sure that I had scared you off."

"So, you..."

Paige nodded happily. "Yeah, Em."

"I didn't..." Emily couldn't finish her question. A wave of relief washed over her. All she could do was kiss Paige, and melt into the kiss that Paige returned. The kiss went on for a while; a necessary release of pent-up tension - and a fair bit of fear. It was also a response to how much they missed the physical contact, after the way they had been dancing around each other, afraid to get too close.

"So, what does this make us?"

Paige tilted her head back. "More than girlfriends, not quite fiancées?" Emily smiled. Paige continued. "On the path to..."

Emily nodded her head and gave Paige a hug. Paige wasn't ready to say the word, and Emily wasn't ready to hear it. It was enough to know that they were on the same path, moving in the same direction, at the same pace.


	21. Dog Tales

"Okay, are you ready?" Paige asked as she turned on the lights and hung her keys on a hook by the front door.

"I'm ready," Emily said with a smile, picking up on Paige's enthusiasm.

Paige stooped at her knees and whistled. "Rags! Come here, boy!" She patted her thighs a couple of times.

Emily heard the electronic whirring of servos and motors as a small robotic dog strode into the room, barking in a pleasant, electronic chirp. She laughed. "What is it?"

"It's our new dog," Paige said, kissing Emily on the cheek. "It does everything a real dog can do, but it doesn't need to be potty trained, and it will never destroy your shoes."

Emily smiled at Paige skeptically, not really believing that this was the birthday present that Paige had been so excited to give her. Paige's smile dimmed just a little at the reaction. "No, Paige – he's great. Rags is… he's cute." Trying to seem enthusiastic, Emily asked, "How did you get him to come when you called?"

Paige reached into her pocket and pulled out the remote control that she had tapped to wake Rags up and summon him from the kitchen."I just thought, you know… well, I know how much you wanted a dog, and since we can't really get a real dog yet, since we don't have a house together…" Paige hung her head and let the thought trail off.

Emily squeezed her shoulder. "No, Paige – it's… sweet. It's really sweet." It really was sweet. Emily liked the way that Paige always thought of her, and what she wanted. And that Paige really tried to make her happy. She wasn't quite sure why they couldn't get a real dog, though. But, she decided not to be disappointed. She gave Paige a kiss. "You're the most thoughtful, sweet girlfriend a girl could have. Thank you."

Paige smiled shyly. "Well, we'd better get changed. We're meeting the girls in a half hour."

* * *

Aria, Hanna, and Spencer raised their glasses and cheered when Emily walked in, with Paige's arm on her shoulder. "Happy birthday!" they shouted, and some of the other diners picked up on the cheer and offered her birthday wishes of their own.

As soon as Emily sat down, Hanna started in. "So, how did you like Robodog?" Aria and Spencer laughed.

"We tried to tell Paige that you would want the real thing," Spencer said, "but she was convinced that you'd like it."

"I _do_ like it," Emily said, looking into Paige's eyes to let her know that she was being sincere. "We can't get a real dog yet, so it's nice to have Rags."

"Why can't you get a real dog?" Aria asked. Emily wasn't convinced herself, so she looked over to Paige letting her answer.

"You know, with the two houses, it would be confusing for the dog, always shuttling back and forth."

Emily nodded her agreement. She wanted to get the topic off of Rags, because she didn't want Paige to feel bad from the girls' teasing, so she picked up a menu and asked, "So, what's good here?"

* * *

Later in the evening, when Paige left to get a round of drinks, Hanna leaned in towards Emily. "Okay, Emily, you can tell us the truth. What do you _really_ think about Robodog?"

Emily sighed. "I think it was a really sweet gesture. You know, Paige knew that I wanted a dog, and since she thinks that we can't get a real dog, she got me Rags. That's just how she is. It's the thought that counts, and getting me the dog was perfectly thoughtful."

"But you wanted a real dog."

Emily shrugged. "And we'll get one eventually. I'd rather be happy with what we have – and I'm not just talking about the dog – than be ungrateful over what we haven't got yet."

Aria nodded. She could see that Emily was taking the questions as a personal attack on Paige, so she tried to deflect them. "We've all got a lot to be grateful for."

After dessert, the girls put their presents on the table for Emily to open. Paige put a card next to the pile of gifts. Emily, smiling, reached for it first, but Paige took it and put it back in the pile. "Why don't you open that last?"

Emily tilted her head at Paige. "Why? Is it something sentimental that's going to make me dissolve in a puddle of tears?"

Paige shrugged one shoulder with a mysterious smile. "Maybe."

Emily was polite as she opened the other girls' presents, but she really wasn't even registering what they were. She wanted to know that Paige had written in the card that was going to get her all sentimental. She gave the girls their perfunctory hugs, and finally got to the prize she had been waiting for. As Emily opened the envelope, Paige scooted a little bit away from her and looked off to the side. Emily looked at her and smiled. She was certain, from Paige's sudden shyness, that it was going to be something mushy and embarrassing.

She pulled a folded sheet of paper out of the envelope and furrowed her brow as she tried to make sense of it. When it hit her, she gasped and grabbed Paige, peppering her cheek with kisses. "Is this real? Are you serious?" Paige nodded with a confident smile. Emily squealed. "I don't believe it!" She gave her another kiss on the cheek, and one on the lips.

"What is it?" the girls asked impatiently. Emily showed them the letter from the animal shelter. Paige had paid the immunization and fees for a rescue dog. All Emily had to do was go and pick out which dog.

"You are the sweetest, most thoughtful, greatest… What did I do to deserve you?"

"You know, I've been wondering that myself!"

"Okay, you're also a cocky bitch sometimes, but I'll let it go," Emily said, resuming the kisses, "since you got me a dog!"

* * *

All that Emily wanted to talk about on the ride home was the dog. She was making preparations for where the dog would sleep in each of their houses, where they could store its food and its leash, and what dog toys they would need.

As they got ready for bed, Paige confessed, "I really wanted a dog to be here when you got home, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that you and I should go pick one out together."

"Paige," Emily assured her, laying a hand on her shoulder, "I trust you. You know me well enough to choose a dog for us."

"Well, maybe," Paige replied, "but this is the first big step that we're taking together. I just thought we should both be involved in the process, you know."

Emily kissed Paige on the neck and sighed. "I just wish that we could go right now, you know?"

"I know."

* * *

"You have some work to catch up on?" Paige didn't usually take her laptop to bed, so Emily was surprised to see it - especially since it was her birthday.

"I just thought that we could look at some dogs tonight." Emily tilted her head, not sure what Paige meant. Paige pulled up the animal shelter's puppy cam. It was too dark in the building for them to see much, and the dogs were mostly asleep anyway. The site had daily archives, though, and Paige pulled up the video from that morning.

Emily's eyes kept going back to one dog, a black Labrador, who seemed to be the mother of all the other dogs. She was watching out for the younger ones, to make sure they didn't fall or crash, and she waited until their dishes were full before she went over to eat from her own dish. "She's like the Paige of dogs," Emily observed.

Paige chuckled. "Did you just compare me to a dog?"

"Noooooo..." Emily gamely drew out the word. "I compared a dog to you!" Paige pouted playfully. "I just mean, she's very protective, she always puts the other dogs first; she's got a big heart." Emily kissed Paige's cheek. "She's a sweetie, just like you!"

Paige kissed Emily's forehead. "Well, if we get her, we're not calling her Paige!"

They clicked through the doggy biographies and found the page for the black lab. "Kahlua?" Paige asked, looking at Emily. "What kind of name is that for a dog?"

"Don't you see?" Emily pointed out the patches of tan fur on Kahlua's neck and paws.

"Oh!" Paige said with a smile, once she got it.

The dog had been dropped off earlier in the week by a family with children that had to leave it behind when the mother took a job overseas. Emily reasoned that this was the reason that Kahlua acted so motherly; she was used to looking after young children.

"That's our dog, Paige!" Emily's eyes were bright with excitement. "Let's get Kahlua!" She nodded her head eagerly.

"Well..." The way that Paige drew out the word made her sound skeptical, and that worried Emily.

"You don't think so?"

"Oh, no, she's a great dog. It's just…" Paige sighed. "I wouldn't get my hopes up, Em. A dog like that, you know... I'm sure that a lot of people would be interested in adopting her."

Emily's tone grew urgent. She squeezed Paige's arm. "Can we go tomorrow? Right after work?"

Paige laughed.

"I'm serious!"

"I know! It's just… you're like the little fella who couldn't wait for Christmas!" Emily pouted. Paige had never seen a lower lip protrude that far. "We'll go tomorrow," she conceded.

* * *

Paige and Emily greeted the vet at the animal shelter and took a look around. They recognized most of the dogs from the previous night's research.

One dog was noticeably missing.

"There was a black lab," Emily said, her tone rising as a question, "Kahlua?"

"Oh, Kahlua!" the vet said. "Yeah. She's a great dog. Great family dog." She tightened her lips as she broke the news to Emily. "You have to understand, when we get a dog like that, it doesn't stay very long. A lot of families want a dog who's already housebroken and who's good with kids."

Emily smiled despite her disappointment. There were plenty of other dogs who needed a good home. As the vet led them further through the facility, she told them, "You'll be happy to know that Kahlua's going to a good home. I spoke to the woman myself this morning. She and her girlfriend aren't married yet, but they do want to have kids eventually."

Emily's mouth opened wide and she shoved Paige's shoulder. Then, she hugged her. The vet opened a door and Kahlua, her tail waving like crazy, ambled up to them slowly and dipped her head.

* * *

The first thing Emily did was get Spencer's boyfriend, Toby, who was good with his hands, to convert a section of the fence between her back yard and Paige's into a gate. It swung on a two-way hinge, so that Kahlua could open it herself no matter which way she was going as she moved from one yard to the other. It was amusing to see the way that she ran at top speed and then came to an immediate stop at the gate, nudging it open with her head before resuming her full gallop on the other side. After a day or so, she learned to slow down just enough to rear up on her hind legs and push the door open with her forepaws. Most of the time, though, Paige and Emily left the gate open.

Kahlua loved having the wide-open space; chasing after balls or sticks – and the occasional squirrel.

"I don't know why we didn't have a gate put in there sooner," Paige remarked.

* * *

Emily settled into the couch, in one of her favorite positions: knees curled up, her head on Paige's chest, Paige's arm around her shoulder, as they watched late night TV in the semi-dark room. She was resting comfortably when Kahlua meandered into the room, pausing for a second or two before she bounded up onto the couch and settled in between the two of them. Emily shrieked in surprise but ended up laughing as she observed, "I guess it's the three of us, from now on!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos to reviewer kias2608 (on ff dot net), who pointed out that the story from which I got the idea to have Kahlua do the McCullers head dip was "What I needed All Along," by IlistenbetterthanItalk (chapter 5)... Bonus points to anyone who knows where the name "Rags" came from. Thanks for reading!


	22. Confession

Paige lost track of the time as she showered. She was too excited, smiling in anticipation as she thought of the day ahead. It would be her first excursion with Emily when they were actual – not pretend – girlfriends, and they were going to see Emily's parents, whose company Paige really enjoyed.

Paige heard the shower curtain slide back and she shrieked in terror, clutching her heart and yelling, "Holy shit!" As she opened her eyes, some conditioner leaked in, burning her eyeballs.

Emily, surprised and a bit guilty at Paige's reaction, couldn't help laughing.

Paige was not amused. "You don't sneak up on people in the shower, Emily!" Paige's tone was a little sharper than she intended.

"Wow. 'Emily?' Really?"

Paige dialed back her anger when she heard the hurt in Emily's voice and realized that she had overreacted. "Shit," she pleaded. "I'm sorry, _Em._ "

"No, never mind. Just forget it."

Paige reached for Emily's arm, stopping her as she turned away. "I'm really sorry, Emily."

"Who did you think it was, Paige? There are only two of us in this house!"

"I know. I know. It's just… I watched that movie 'Psycho' with my Dad when I was a kid, and I guess it kind of took its toll on me. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to overreact like that."

Emily nodded. "Okay," she said with a sigh.

Paige raised her eyebrows, looking into Emily's eyes to confirm that she was okay. She was relieved to see Emily smile. "So, did you need something?"

Emily's smile got bigger. "No… I just thought you might be a little tense about seeing my parents, and I was thinking I could, maybe, help you with that." Emily undid her robe and let it fall from her shoulders, revealing nothing but herself underneath it.

"Oh, yeah. I'm tense, Em. I'm _so_ tense!"

"You're such a little liar, Paige!" Emily climbed into the shower with a devious smirk. "Horny is not the same thing as tense!"

"Yeah," Paige said with a kiss, "but I'm a pretty little liar, right?"

Emily stepped under the warm flowing water, pulling herself into Paige. "I would say you're a hot little liar." She quickly added, "Don't get my hair wet! I don't want to condition it again!

"I promise nothing!"

* * *

Paige was a bit too bubbly and affectionate in the airport and on the flight. She kept giving Emily hugs from the side and looking over at her with a dopey grin. "What's with you today, McCullers?"

"Isn't this great? Actually taking a trip together as actual girlfriends?"

Emily gave her a kiss, stroking her cheek. She was happy that Paige was excited, but, in reality, it didn't seem like that big a deal to her.

Paige shrugged. "My ex was never big on public displays, you know."

 _Oh, right!_ Emily pouted sympathetically. "That's so sad!"

"It's so much better with a _real_ girlfriend."

Emily chuckled. "I'm glad you're my real girlfriend this time. Last time we went to San Antonio…"

Paige kissed her. "This is definitely better."

* * *

As much as Paige and Emily tried not to give anything away on the drive back from the airport, it was obvious that they had something big to tell Pam and Wayne. Emily had cautioned them before they made the trip that she and Paige were not there to announce their engagement. Still, Pam had her hopes up. They wouldn't have flown out – together – just to break bad news.

Pam gave them a moment to get settled before they all sat in the living room for the big reveal.

"Well, Mom, Dad, Paige and I have a confession to make." Emily looked over at Paige, who nodded her encouragement.

"Okay," Pam said slowly. "Well, I know that she didn't get you pregnant, so… What is it?"

Emily took a deep breath. Paige took her hand, for support. "Well, Paige and I haven't been totally honest with you."

"No?"

"No. When we came out here for Dominick's wedding, we weren't dating. I hardly knew Paige." Pam gasped, clutching her heart and looking over at Wayne. She took his hand, mirroring the way that Paige and Emily were holding hands. "I asked her to pretend to be my girlfriend, because I didn't want you to set me up while I was here." Wayne couldn't help chuckling at that, until Pam shot him down with a glare.

"Emmy," Pam said, fidgeting with her fingers as they rested intertwined with Wayne's, "you're telling me that you asked some virtual stranger to fly halfway across the country to pretend to be your girlfriend at a wedding?" She looked at Emily, who looked at Paige. "But that's impossible – you two were so perfect together!"

Emily smiled at Paige, and Paige smiled back. "That's what we thought, too," Paige said.

"I'm just having a hard time understanding this, Emmy. Why couldn't you just be honest with me?"

"Oh, Mom," Wayne said. He knew perfectly well why Emily hadn't been honest, but he didn't want to pick that fight. "What's done is done. The important thing is that they're being honest with us now. So," Wayne looked at his daughter, "are you together now?"

Emily nodded.

"How long?"

Emily sighed. "Since Thanksgiving." Emily explained how Pam's assumption that they had been living together had put them in a position where they ended up talking and being honest with each other.

"So, you two were sleeping together, but you weren't together?"

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, Mom." Emily looked to Paige for confirmation, and Paige nodded. "We just slept in the same bed,in case you barged in the door." Pam glared at Wayne before he could react. "But we didn't sleep together!"

Pam looked at Wayne helplessly. He gestured with his chin towards Emily. Pam stood and walked over. Emily stood and met her halfway. As they hugged, Pam said, "Well, I'm glad that you're telling us everything now. But I'll admit that I'm disappointed – disappointed that you felt that you had to lie, but more disappointed because…" She looked back at Wayne. "I saw those pictures of you and the kids, and you looked like such a perfect little family. I guess I thought it wouldn't be that long before your father and I had some grandkids to visit back in Rosewood."

Paige stood, taking Emily's hand. "It might not be that long, Pam," she said, looking at Emily for confirmation. "Emily and I haven't been together very long, but, when Abby and Brendan visited, it was kind of an eye-opener for us. It made us realize that we want the same things, and it made us realize how strong our feelings are for each other. So, I'm not here to ask for your daughter's hand in marriage, but we wanted you to know that our real relationship has caught up with our fake relationship."

Emily nodded. "I think, for the first time since the wedding, that our real relationship is at about the same place as our fake relationship."

Wayne stood and gave Paige, then Emily, hugs. "I won't say that I agree with the way that you handled this situation," he told Emily, "but I respect the fact that you've come clean with us, now – even though you could've gotten away with it if you had never told us."

"See? I told you that we could've gotten away with it!" Paige teased, earning an elbow to the ribs from Emily.

"Well, who knows?" Pam mused. "Maybe this was fate's way of bringing the two of you together."

* * *

"Hey," Emily whispered, not sure that Paige was still awake. When Paige grunted, Emily continued. "This is kind of weird, isn't it?"

"What is?"

"That my parents let us stay in the same room."

"I don't know – what do they usually do?"

Emily smacked Paige on the shoulder. "It's not as if I regularly paraded my gal pals back to the house for sleepovers!"

"Oh – well, I didn't know… You're the one making a big deal about how weird it is!"

"It doesn't seem weird to you? Like, would your parents do it?"

"I… hmm…" Paige hadn't really given it any thought. "I guess – No! They would never go for that."

"Did… they… know about you and Shana?" The words came out haltingly. Emily wasn't sure that it was okay to ask.

"I think my Dad kind of suspected. I mean, he was always adamant about leaving the door open." She whisper-shouted, "DOOR!" mimicking her dad's mantra.

"So they knew that you were gay?"

Paige chuckled. "Yeah. Knew it? yes… Admitted it? not so much."

"How did you come out?"

"My Dad caught us kissing when we were supposed to be studying. Actually, come to think of it, that might be the origin of the policy on keeping the door open."

"Ooh – so you were making out with Shana and your dad walked in!" Emily teased.

"Not even making out," Paige retorted impatiently. "It was just a little kiss."

"Yeah? Like this?" Emily gave Paige a peck on the lips. "Or like this?" She kissed her with a bit more purpose. "I bet it was like this." She pulled Paige in and kissed her with all she had, stroking her ass and ruining the messy bun on top of her head.

"God, Shana wishes she could kiss like that."

Emily, with a lustful look in her eye, went at it again.

"Emily," Paige intoned breathlessly, "here? With your parents right down the hall?"

"They won't care," Emily said between kisses. "You heard them earlier… That's probably why they stuck us in this room together – they probably figured I'd seduce you and you'd end up proposing!"

"Mmm… seduce me! Seduce me!"

Things had begun to get a bit heated when Paige abruptly pulled away. "Let's do it."

"Ooh," Emily said, her voice flat and sarcastic. "Paige McCullers: The last of the great romantics. You really know how to set the mood!"

"No, I'm serious, Emily."

Paige dropped out of the bed onto one knee. "This isn't how I ever envisioned doing this, Em - half naked and in the middle of a hot make-out session, but I'm old enough to know what I want. I want to go to weddings with you. I want to fly out to Texas and visit your parents with you. I want to chase our kids around the park all day - and spend all night figuring out who's going to take them to school in the morning and who's going to pick them up in the afternoon. I don't want to be just your neighbor, or just your friend, or just your lover - or just your anything. I want to be your world, because you're mine. And I want a ring on my finger and a piece of paper signed by the mayor to let everybody know that we belong to each other."

When Paige looked up, she saw tears streaming down Emily's cheeks - and a big smile on her face. She stood up, pulling Paige to her knees and into the tightest hug she had ever given. "Yes," she said as Paige kissed her, tasting the salt from her tears. "Yes, Paige! I want that, too."


	23. Another Confession

Paige and Emily were just a little too giddy the following morning at breakfast. There were the knowing smiles, the constant giggles - as if from some shared, private joke - the playful touches and the teasing looks.

Wayne was pretty sure he knew what had gone on the night before. Pam was pretty sure that she didn't want to know.

"Are we going to have to put you two in separate rooms the rest of the way?" Wayne asked, with all of the years as an officer coming through in his booming vice.

"No, Dad! We're just…" Emily sighed, looking at Paige. Paige nodded. "Okay, I'll tell you what happened last night."

"Emmy! You don't have to tell us anything!" Pam put her hands over her ears. "You two are consenting adults, and you don't owe anybody any explanations!"

Emily gasped in shock. "Mo-om! What did you think I was going to tell you?"

"Well, I know that your generation is a lot more open about these things than ours was, when your father and I were growing up."

"Okay," Emily half-shouted, "if everybody could just take a breath for a minute!" Emily looked over at Paige's smile as she softened her tone, somewhat demurely. "Last night, Paige asked me to marry her, and I said yes."

"Oh, Honey!" Pam jumped up and grabbed Emily in a tight hug, shaking her back and forth. She extended an arm to Paige, pulling her in as well. "Is this real? Are you guys pulling one over on me again?"

"Right, Mom." Emily's tone was heavy on the sarcasm. "Don't think we don't know why you let us share a room together!"

"Emily Fields! I have no idea what you're talking about!" As she let them go, she said, "I knew that it was just a matter of time, anyway. Ever since you posted those pictures with the children. Didn't I tell you Wayne?"

"Yes, Dear," Wayne said wearily, adding, as an aside to Paige and Emily, "She's been telling me ever since Dominick's wedding!"

"See? And I was right, wasn't I?" Pam nudged Paige. "It took you long enough!"

* * *

Pam was able to get some time alone with Emily later in the afternoon. Her daughter's wedding was an occasion that she had spent her entire motherly career waiting for. It was hard for her to contain her excitement. She pulled Emily in for a hug from the side. "Ooh! I can't believe that my little girl is finally getting married!"

"Mom," Emily pointed out, "I'm actually bigger than you." She struggled to smile through the vice-like grip that Pam had on her cheeks.

"Well, you'll always be my little girl," Pam oozed as she machine-gunned kisses into her daughter's cheek. "You know that, Emmy."

"Okay, Mom," Emily said, trying to create some distance. "I love you, too, but you're getting my cheek all slimy."

Pam chuckled as she wiped her kisses off of Emily's cheek. "Give me a break, Emily. I've been waiting for this day longer than you have. So, we have to talk about dresses and colors and menus!"

Emily held her hands up to put the brakes on that train of thought. "Slow down there, Pam. I've been engaged for a grand total of about 11 hours, you know."

"I know, I know. But, you'll be back in Rosewood pretty soon, and I won't be able to help with the planning long distance."

Emily tried to be patient. She understood why her mother was so excited, and she really did want her to be involved in the planning. It was something that she looked forward to doing together.

"Well, you can come out to Rosewood to stay for a while." Emily's eyes lit up. "Oh – that would be perfect! Paige and I could stay at her house, and we could use our house for all of the wedding planning! And, for the wedding, you and Dad and some other out-of-town family could stay at the house."

Pam, with her hands on Emily's shoulders, nodded. Her entire face was smiling. "Just tell me, Emmy: Are you going to wear a dress?"

"Of course I'm going to wear a dress!"

Pam fist-pumped. She was trying to remain neutral, but she had always pictured Emily getting married in a beautiful white dress.

"Why wouldn't I wear a dress?"

"Well, I didn't want to assume…"

"I wore a dress to prom… and to Dad's retirement ceremony… and to Dom's wedding."

"I know, I know." Pam shifted topics. "What about Paige?"

Emily shrugged. "I guess that's up to her. I mean, she wore a dress to Dom's wedding, right?"

"You guys haven't talked about it?"

"Okay, Mom, you _do_ get the fact that Paige just popped the question last night?"

"And you guys didn't talk about any of the details at all?"

"No – we…" Emily all of a sudden remembered that she was talking to her mother. Her voice got softer as she finished the thought. "… celebrated."

"Well, celebrating is good," Pam said, unflinching. "But still – you _talk_ about it."

Emily smirked. "And, I guess you and Dad talked about the details right after he proposed?"

Pam shook her head, raising her hands in surrender, then laughed. "No…." she admitted, drawing out the syllable, "but I thought that was the advantage of marrying a woman instead of a man!" Pam lowered her head. When Emily laughed, Pam did, too; relieved that she was allowed to joke about that.

* * *

Emily and Paige lay in bed facing each other, their bodies all but touching. They couldn't stop smiling. And kissing occasionally. And touching, chastely; a hand to the cheek, or smoothed through the other's hair.

"So, I guess the next step is telling _your_ parents."

Paige sighed melodramatically. "If we must."

"Paige!" Emily slapped her on the shoulder. "I want to tell everyone. Don't you?"

"I do… I do."

"So, when do you think we can fly out there?"

Paige sighed. "It'd probably be better to have them fly out to Rosewood. You know – keep the home court advantage."

Emily gave Paige a quick kiss, through a smile. "You're so funny – it's always about sports and competition…"

"I don't know. I just think that it'd be better for us to do it on our home turf, you know? Somewhere where we feel comfortable, without the extra baggage of you meeting my parents for the first time."

"But what about Abby and Brendan?"

Paige frowned. "I hadn't thought about that." With a shrug, she conceded, "Yeah, I guess we'd better plan on a trip out there."

Emily gave her a reassuring kiss. "It won't be so bad."

"How bad could it be? I get to marry the most beautiful, loving, sexy, caring woman in the world."

"So do I."

"Emily, we can't both be!"

"Sure we can! It's a tie!"

"Wow," Paige said sarcastically, "What are the odds that we two hot, sexy, caring women found each other?"

"One in 3.7 billion."

"What?"

"Huh? Nothing…"

"Emily, those were pretty specific odds just to throw out like that."

"Okay – if you must know. Back when I asked you to go to my cousin's wedding with me, Hanna and I were speculating about whether or not you were gay. Apparently, Spencer calculated the odds that two women who lived next door to each in a town the size of Rosewood were both only children, swimmers, and gay."

"And it was one in 3.7 billion."

"Exactly."

"If I'd known," Paige stroked her hand through Emily's hair, "I would've locked you down sooner!"

"Well, you've got me locked down, now." Emily kissed her, "So, good job."

* * *

Emily ran some errands with her father in the morning. It gave her an opportunity to talk with him.

"So, Dad. Do you have any advice on how I can do something for Paige?"

"What did you have in mind?"

"Well, she's always doing thoughtful things for me. I just wanted to do something, you know, to say 'Thank you.'"

"Did you try... saying 'Thank you'?"

"Of course I did!" Emily punched his shoulder. "No, I was just thinking, because you always give Mom such great gifts."

It was true. Even on those occasions when Wayne was overseas, in the battlefield, he always made sure to make his wife's special days truly special.

Wayne shrugged his shoulders. "I've found that being a good gift-giver is a matter of being a good listener. Finding out what's special to someone, what she needs or what she wants at a particular time. If you're having a hard time finding something for Paige, maybe it's a sign that you don't know her well enough. You know. Maybe it's too soon!"

"Daddy!" Wayne started laughing. "I swear" Emily shook a playful fist in his direction " - if you weren't driving this car right now..."

"I'm just teasing, I'm just teasing. Anyone can see that the two of you are meant for each other." Wayne winked at Emily and turned his attention back to the road. "But, as I said, it's just a matter of giving it some thought. Think over the things that you two talk about, and the things that interest her. It'll come to you."

* * *

"I think you missed the exit for the airport," Paige said, swiveling in her seat as she pointed towards the sign as Emily drove past it.

Emily just smiled.

"Okay, what's going on?"

"We're taking a little detour," Emily said whimsically. She reached over and played with Paige's hair.

Paige, smiling in anticipation, took Emily's hand in her lap.

"I changed the flight to Monday morning. I know you wanted Monday off to get caught up before you have to go back to work, but..."

Paige squeezed Emily's hand. "This is better." When she thought it over, she said, "So, we got all packed up just so you wouldn't ruin the surprise? We're going to have to unpack back at your parents' house tonight?"

Emily tousled Paige's hair again. "Maybe we're not going back to my parents' house tonight."

Paige giggled. And as they drove further toward their unnamed destination, she giggled some more. She didn't know what Emily had up her sleeve, but she liked it. It was fun, being taken on a surprise adventure.

* * *

"So, let me guess - a concert?" Paige asked, after seeing several signs for the Aztec Theatre.

Emily nodded. "Lukas Graham? Ever heard of them?"

Paige shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe? I'm not sure..."

"I hadn't. But, you know. I thought it could be fun. I know how much you like music."

"I _love_ music," Paige asserted. "Especially live music! This is going to be great!"

It did turn out to be great. Only one or two of the songs sounded familiar, but that wasn't the point. They were on their feet throughout most of the concert, swaying and dancing to the music, singing along with a thousand or so of their new friends on the refrains, as they learned them. Emily laughed to herself at the sight of Paige. She really loved music, and the experience - the community experience of a live spectacle.

When the final notes of the final encore sounded and the ovation died down, Paige grabbed Emily in a tight embrace and kissed her. "I love you so much right now!"

Emily, still giddy over how much fun Paige was having, laughed and pulled her back for another kiss. "I love you, too." She kissed her cheek. "And I love seeing you enjoy yourself like this!"

The high that Paige was on lasted through the ride to the hotel. She tried to be on her best behavior as Emily got them checked in, but she couldn't restrain herself once it was just the two of them in the elevator. Their private party lasted the rest of the night. They were exhausted for the flight home, but that was okay. There were worse ways to pass the time on an airplane than fast asleep, with their heads on each other's shoulders.


	24. What Not To Wear

Emily was eager to share the great news with her friends back in Rosewood. Still, other than the fact that she was just a little more clingy than usual with Paige when they all got together, she didn't give anything away. Nobody really saw it coming

"So, we have some news."

"You guys are moving in together?" Hanna speculated. She tossed her head back and threw her hands in the air. "Finally!"

"Umm... I guess!" Emily laughed and looked at Paige. They would have to settle the house question sooner or later. They had discussed, but only notionally, the fact that it would make sense to move into one house and rent out or sell the other. But it wasn't as simple as that. It would be hard on Paige, Emily realized, to live in the house where Emily had grown up. She wouldn't feel comfortable about suggesting changes to the décor or even moving some of her things in to what would still always seem like Emily's house. On the other hand, were they to sell that house, Emily wasn't sure that she would be able to handle seeing new owners move in and paint the house a different color or change the landscaping. Neither would she be able tolerate renters who didn't treat her hallowed homestead with the respect that it deserved.

All of those discussions would have to wait, though. For now, there was big news to share.

Hanna's eyes lit up and she reached across the table with a shriek, when Emily made her announcement.

Spencer was poker-faced. "Do you have a ring and a date?"

"Spencer..." Aria wanted Spencer just to celebrate with their friends, but Spencer was resolute.

"What? Anybody can say that she'll marry you, but it doesn't mean anything unless you have a ring and a date."

"Spencer," Emily said patiently, fully aware that Spencer wasn't trying to be offensive, "it was a spur-of-the-moment thing!"

"But don't worry," Paige assured her, "I have every intention of giving Emily a proper proposal."

"So, are you going to wear a tux?" Hanna asked, her eyes still dancing. "Oh, Em, I can't wait to go through colors and themes with you."

Emily laughed out loud. "You should be talking to my Mom!"

"Way ahead off you, Babe," Hanna said, her phone next to her ear. "Pam? Hanna. You _know_ why I'm calling."

* * *

Paige hung back after brunch for a word with Spencer. She needed some advice on choosing a ring for Emily, and thought that it would be wise to consult with someone who knew her well.

"This sounds more like Hanna's department," Spencer pointed out.

"Oh, I agree," Paige said. "But, really, Spencer? A day shopping with Hanna?"

Spencer held her hand up. "Say no more!"

* * *

"It's just weird, you know? That's the first question about a lesbian wedding - 'Are you going to wear a tux?'"

"Uh huh."

"I mean, if we were dudes, would they ask whether or not I'm going to wear a dress?"

"Well, to be fair, a lot more women wear suits than..."

"I know. I know." Paige started to wonder whether there was a reason that Emily wasn't really sharing the laugh with her about the question. "Wait, Em, do you _want_ me to wear a tux?"

Emily turned over so that she was facing Paige. "All I care about," she said with a wry smile, "is that you show up and say, 'I do.'"

* * *

After a frustrating morning spent wandering all over Jewelers' Row in Philadelphia, Paige and Spencer decided to take a coffee break. Other than coming up empty on a ring, the morning had been good. Emily had been right in suggesting that Spencer and Paige would enjoy spending some time together.

"Have you thought about Hanna's question?"

Paige laughed. "About the tux?" Spencer nodded. Paige shook her head. "I think it's a little bit over the top, don't you?"

"It doesn't have to be. It depends on the tux. It if it's done tastefully, it could actually be pretty feminine."

Paige nodded in gratitude. "I'll keep that in mind."

"The thing is," Spencer said leaning in, "Emily would definitely appreciate it. She's always had this fantasy of the chivalrous lady, sweeping her off of her feet and riding off into the sunset with her."

"Huh." Paige had no idea. "She's never said anything about that. And, when I asked her, she said that it didn't matter."

Spencer looked deep into Paige's eyes. "Are you surprised? I mean, what would you expect her to say?"

Paige laughed. "Yeah, I guess you're right." she reached for Spencer's hands across the table. "Thank you."

* * *

When Emily opened the door and saw Paige standing there, her stomach flipped a little. Usually, when they got dressed up to go out, Paige wore a dress or a nice skirt. She occasionally wore slacks, but tonight was different. Paige looked tailored; put together. She had a charcoal gray wool suit with a crimson shirt and a narrow, black tie with red diagonal stripes. She was confident and self-assured. She smiled as she began to say hello, but before she could get the word out, Emily joined hands behind her neck and began kissing her. Paige's hands, when she put them on Emily's back in returning the kiss, discovered that there wasn't much to Emily's dress in the back. Paige dispatched her hands lower, to seek out just how low a plunge it was, and the contact caused Emily to spring up on tiptoe and moan into Paige's mouth when Paige's hands reached the border. It would've been faster to describe what Emily's dress didn't cover than what it did. It put the "little" in "little black dress."

Paige picked up Emily's overnight bag, sighing sadly when Emily reached for a coat on her way out of the house. It seemed like a sin to cover the dress - and the body beneath it. Emily patted Paige's cheek sympathetically.

The conversation on the drive to Philadelphia was light and casual. Paige couldn't wipe the smile off of her face. What she was going to ask Emily over dinner wasn't a surprise. Still, she was giddy with anticipation for the moment to arrive. It didn't hurt that she got a sneak preview of the upcoming attractions every time she glanced over at Emily in that dress. Emily smirked at Paige's lack of subtlety and her overt enthusiasm. It was going to be a great night.

Paige handed her keys to the valet and headed over to the driver's side to help Emily out of the car. It was a bit chilly, but she opted to leave her coat in the car. That - plus the way that Paige subtly dropped Spencer Hastings' name, got them the finest table in the house.

Emily placed their orders in her best French, explaining to Paige that, after having to use a translation app on her first trip to Haiti, she promised herself she'd learn the language in earnest before she traveled there again. Something about hearing French from Emily's lips turned Paige on even more - but the fact was, she was so far gone at that point, Emily could've spoken gibberish and it would've pushed Paige over the edge.

Emily enjoyed the conversation, the food, the wine, and the dessert, but she was waiting for the main course.

Paige settled the bill and took Emily's hand. "Let's take a walk," she said pleasantly, taking off her jacket and draping it over Emily's shoulders. They headed up the Parkway towards the Art Museum, and Emily was pleased to see that the fountain had already been turned on for the spring season. There, in Logan Square, with the light of the fountain behind them, Paige took both of Emily's hands and got down on one knee.

"Emily, I promised you that I would do this the right way; that you would have your night. And, now, I'm here to ask you, would you promise me that every other night will be ours?"

Emily smiled, lifting Paige to her feet for a hug. "Yes, Paige," she said, her smile a mile wide, "I gladly promise."

Paige slipped the ring, a white gold band with a tapered diamond baguettes leading up to a trilliant-cut center stone. She and Emily held each other, soaking in the moment longer. It was classic; very tasteful; very _Emily._ Spencer had seen to that.

Emily sighed into Paige's shoulder.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, Paige. Everything's perfect, really." Emily didn't want Paige to be disappointed. She knew how much planning Paige must have put into getting the night right.

"But...?"

Emily laughed, shaking her head. "Sometimes, I kind of wish that I were a Kardashian, and I had someone following me around to photograph perfect moments like this."

"I'm glad you said that," Emily heard, as Aria emerged from the shadows brandishing a camera. Hanna and Spencer were there with white umbrellas, to make sure the lighting was just right.

"I asked them to come," Paige explained, "because I was pretty sure that you'd say yes."

After they got the shots they wanted, the trundled into Spencer's SUV. Emily scooted close to Paige, and Paige rubbed her bare arms, to help take off the chill. That wasn't her only reason for rubbing Emily's arms. She had been patient and chivalrous throughout the entire night, and she was ready for the physical part of the night to begin.

Spencer dropped the couple off to pick up Paige's car, and Paige took the short drive to a little bed and breakfast near Penn's Landing, by the Delaware River. They both had a special attraction to the water.

* * *

Paige faced Emily, wanting Emily to see the want in her eyes, as she reached behind her to unzip the dress. Somehow, she had managed to forget the garment's deep plunge in the back - the feature that had her bouncing her legs in anticipation from the moment she picked Emily up for the date - until her hands were back there. Paige gently stroked the soft skin of Emily's back for a second or two, to make it appear as if that were why she had reached back there. When she and Emily were thoroughly worked up from that contact, she lifted the fabric away from Emily's shoulders and let the dress drop to the floor, taking in the familiar yet somehow always new sight of her fiancée. "You're beautiful," she whispered.

Emily was just a slow and deliberate in removing Paige's clothes. She loosened Paige's tie, pulling it over Paige's head and wrapping it to around own neck. She worked her way down the buttons of Paige's shirt, licking her lips as she did. Paige's hands were rubbing her ass, and she moaned at the soothing, rhythmic contact. Ultimately, it got the best of her. "Fuck it!" she said, throwing Paige against the bed. Paige just had too many clothes on. Emily couldn't wait any longer.

Paige didn't make her.

Few words were needed. The communicated heart to heart; mind to mind; spirit to spirit; flesh to flesh.

* * *

"You look good in a tie," Paige remarked, idly rubbing Emily's back as Emily lay on top of her.

"Yeah?"

Paige nodded. "And I like the feel of it, tickling against my thighs."

Emily sat up with a devious smile. In a swift moment, she pulled the tie over her head and wrapped it around Paige's wrists, tightening it around them. With one hand, she held Paige's hands above the headboard. With the other, she did whatever the hell she wanted.


	25. Meeting Paige's Family

After Paige and Emily shared the good news with Emily's friends in Rosewood, and Paige came through with a proper proposal, the only remaining loose end was to fly out and tell Paige's parents and foster children.

They found an inexpensive suite at the Sheraton, having made arrangements with the children's mother for them stay with them for the weekend. They thought that it would be best to tell Abby and Brendan first, to give them some time to react and come to terms with the news before they all got together to tell Paige's parents.

When Paige answered the door at the hotel, Abby came bursting in, giving her huge hug, and sharing another with Emily.

Brendan was more diffident. He clung tight to his mother, eyeing Emily and Paige suspiciously. Emily was torn. She knew that it was appropriate behavior – and even good – for him to bond so deeply with his natural mother, yet she was heartbroken at the sight of her little buddy from Rosewood now treating her like a stranger. She twisted her torso back towards Paige, who gestured with her chin that Emily should approach him. She walked up slowly and sank to her knees, down to Brendan's level. Brendan hid his face in his mother's legs.

It was all that Emily could do to keep from crying. She knew that, if she did, Brendan would start crying, too. She didn't want to make him emotionally conflicted.

"He's just tired," his mother explained. Turning her attention to him, softening her voice, she said, "Bren, it's Emily! You know, the one you can't stop talking about." She threw that in for Emily's benefit. "Don't you want to stay in this nice hotel with them?" Her voice got high with excitement as she told him, "I think they're going to get pizza!"

Brendan didn't make a sound or a move. He stood as still as a soldier. His mother patted his back as she apologized to Emily and Paige. Eventually, she disentangled herself and ducked out of the door.

Brendan was frozen in place; caught between two worlds.

"Brendy," Abby said, leaning to take a step towards him. Paige put her hands on Abby's shoulders, though, keeping her close. She knew that Emily would need to learn to work her way through this situation. Emily took a step closer, and Brendan turned his back to her, palms against the door, crying for all he was worth. Emily looked back at Paige with a pathetic pout. Paige tightened her lips and leaned over sympathetically.

Emily took a deep breath and walked up to Brendan. Kneeling down again, she asked, "Brendan, buddy, could I have a hug? Sometimes, a friend just needs a hug."

Brendan turned around mid-sob and extended his arms. Emily picked him up and let him cry on her shoulder. She didn't tell him that it was okay or try to shush him. She just let him hug her, and hugged him back, bouncing him up and down a little. When his cries subsided and his body stilled, she looked at Paige, mouthing the words, "Is he asleep?" She turned her around for a moment, so that Paige could see his head. When she turned around again, she saw Paige shake her head no.

Emily headed over to the couch and sat down with Brendan, his head still on her shoulder, in her lap. "Hey, Buddy, do you want to get some pizza?" She felt him nod. "Well, how about this. Why don't we get the pizza delivered right here, to our room? That way, you don't have to get dressed up. You can even eat in your pajamas, if you want. Okay?"

"Okay," he said softly. "I got Batman!"

Emily opened her mouth wide, showing excitement for Brendan's sake. "You have Batman pajamas?"

"Uh huh!"

"No way! That's so cool!" Emily winked at Paige. "Mommy P. has Batman pajamas, too, you know!" Paige chuckled self-consciously.

Paige and Emily showed the kids to their room, telling them that they could bounce on the beds for a few minutes, if they wanted – but not to try that at home. By the time they bounced, changed, and got washed up, the pizza had arrived.

Brendan was back to being Emily's little buddy again, wanting her, and only her, to give him his pizza and to cut it up into bite-sized pieces for him. He actually ended up sitting in her lap, eating from her plate.

"Well," Paige told them after dinner. "Ms. Emily and I have something very important to tell you."

"Is it a secret?" Abby wanted to know.

"Not really," Paige explained, "but not many people know about it."

"I won't tell," Brendan assured her.

"It's okay, Buddy. Mom P. and I would never tell you something that you had to keep secret, okay?"

Brendan nodded.

"Okay, are you ready?" The kids chorused a hearty, "Yes!" and Paige continued. "Well, Ms. Emily and I have decided that we're going to get married."

"Like Grandpa Nick and Grandma Marlene?" Abby asked.

"Yes, like that. Except we're both women." The significance of that fact was lost on the two children.

"Will you wear a dress?"

"Really, Abby?" Paige looked at Emily. "Why does everybody ask me that?"

"Paige, she wants to know whether you're going to wear a wedding dress. She's probably seen pictures of weddings, right, Abby?"

Abby nodded. "You'd look pretty in a wedding dress."

"i think so, too," Paige whispered.

Brendan was looking back and forth between the two fiancées, his mouth slightly open.

"Brendan, do you understand what I said?"

Brendan shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, it means that you can call Ms. Emily 'Mommy Em.'"

"If you want to," Emily added quickly. She knew that might be a little much to expect. "You can still call me Ms. Emily."

Brendan smiled shyly. "I have three Mommies," he said to himself.

* * *

"That really jarred me," Emily admitted softly, "seeing Brendan like that."

Paige squeezed her arms around Emily and kissed her shoulder. "It wasn't you, you know. You have to understand that those kids have been through a lot of disruption. It's hard for them to process all the comings and goings."

Emily just nodded, glad that Paige couldn't see the pain on her face.

"I mean, Abby's older, so she's better at hiding it but..." Paige sighed. "It's just a shame, seriously, to think about everything they've been through in their young lives."

Emily rolled over and placed her hand on Paige's cheek. "Oh, Paige, I didn't mean to make it all about me..."

"No, I know you didn't. And I understand what you were feeling. Believe me, I would never downplay that."

Emily nodded and turned around again, into the comfort of Paige's arms around her waist.

"You handled it well," Paige whispered.

"Yeah," Emily mused. "I just really needed that hug."

"And Brendan needed to know that. He needed to know that it was hard for you, too, and that you needed him."

"I really love those kids, Paige."

* * *

Paige and Emily took the kids to the playground after breakfast on Saturday morning. They let them run around and be kids, enjoying the experience of chasing after them. All of the drama from the night before had been forgotten. They were just a family again - or, at least, it felt like a family.

Once the kids - not to mention, the adults - were all tired out, they headed back to the hotel for naps before their dinner with Paige's parents.

Emily wasn't quite sure what to expect out of Nick and Marlene. Marlene was her facebook friend, and she had learned a thing or two about her political and religious leanings. She also learned, from all the recipes and baking videos, where Paige had gotten her love for the kitchen. But other than the occasional greeting on the phone - the abrupt "She's fine, Mom. Here - I'll put her on!" - Emily hadn't really interacted with them.

"Nervous?" Paige asked in the rental car.

"No, why would I be?" Emily shoved Paige for the sheer foolishness of that question. "Of course I'm nervous! It's the first time I'm meeting your parents, and we're going to drop this bomb on them?"

Emily felt a small hand on her back. "It's okay, Mommy Em. Grandma Molly and Grandpa Nick are _really_ nice."

"Ohhh!" Emily looked at Paige with a sad/smiling expression, her heart melted by Abby's words of comfort.

* * *

"Now, my Dad doesn't say a lot," Paige reminded Emily as they walked up to the front door hand in hand, each holding one of the children's hands. "It doesn't mean that he doesn't like you."

Emily nodded and smiled. She knew that Paige was trying to make her feel better, but she was scaring the hell out of her.

"Well, hello!" Marlene said as she opened the door with her arms wide, hugging Paige first, then Abby. She picked Brendan up and spun him around. "And how's my big boy?"

The kids' mom kept them in contact with Paige's parents, so Brendan wasn't as shy around them as he normally was with strangers.

"And, Emily," Marlene oozed, taking her hand, "it's so nice to meet you!"

Nick McCullers stepped into the entryway, and Emily immediately recognized the look of steely-eyed determination on his face. She'd seen it many times in Paige. She might have laughed to herself at the resemblance, if she weren't so intimidated.

Abby and Brendan ran up to "Grandpa Nick" each wrapping around a leg. He struggled to take a few steps before they jumped off, raising their hands towards his arms. "Oh, okay," he said, holding his arms out at his sides and bending them at elbow, flexing his biceps. The kids each latched onto one of his flexed muscles, and he raised his arms, hoisting them a few inches off of the ground. "Hold on tight! Don't be a wimp!" he taunted. "Aww," he groaned sympathetically when they eventually fell away.

Emily laughed out loud, looking over at Paige. Paige shrugged. "My Dad loves kids!"

Nick turned his attention to his daughter, extending his hand. Emily was taken aback. _A handshake, really?_ Nick and Paige grabbed hands and began a sort of midair arm wrestling duel. "I see you're still hitting the gym," Nick grunted out, his face turning slightly red. After a bit he laughed and exchanged the grip for a hug. "And Emily," he said with a smile, hugging her as well, "Pleased to meet you."

"So, no arm wrestling?" Emily asked as the hug ended. She laughed nervously, not sure that she was allowed to joke like that with Nick.

"Nah," he said waving her off with his hand. "I'll give you a pass this time." Looking sideways to Paige he said, pretending to whisper, "Looks as if this one could give me a run for my money!"

Emily laughed along with Nick and Paige. She could see that she was in for an interesting evening.


	26. Telling Paige's Parents

Marlene took Emily by the hand, heading toward the kitchen. "Why don't we let those two take care of the luggage? You can help me in the kitchen."

Emily smiled nervously at Paige as Marlene led her by the hand. "Okay..." her voice was tentative, "but I think Paige would be your best bet in that department."

"Oh, nonsense! I'm sure you know your way around a mixing bowl?"

Emily smiled gamely. "Sure!" _Just don't ask me to make empenadas!_

"Besides, everything's pretty much ready already," Marlene continued. "I just thought you and I could chat." Emily nodded. "Or, I could ask Paige, and you and Nick could chat?" Emily opened her mouth, trying to come up with a tactful way to decline that last offer, but Marlene started laughing.

Emily smiled, squeezing Marlene's shoulder. "Point me to that mixing bowl!"

Marlene was laid-back and easy to talk to. She had a certain grace; the same that Emily had observed in Paige herself. And, yet, Emily found herself thinking that Paige, for all her domestic skills, was more like her father, Nick: A bit rough around the edges, diving right into things, without worrying over the consequences, acting before she thought. But then, she realized, that was how they ended up there in the first place. Paige hadn't thought through what it meant when she agreed to pretend to be Emily's girlfriend. It had made the road a bit more bumpy than it needed to be – the Paige roller coaster, as Emily used to call it, but, nonetheless, they made it to their destination.

Whatever Marlene had in mind for Emily in the kitchen, it certainly wasn't cooking. Marlene was a bit of a control freak; definitely one of the ways that Paige took after her. Whenever Emily tried to show some initiative and pitch in, Marlene cut in front of her.

"Oh, let me take care of that, Dear."  
"Those are almost ready to put out, I just need to stir them up a bit."  
"Would you mind setting these on the table? Oh, let me. The pan is a bit hot."

Out of the kitchen window, Emily could see Paige and Nick chasing the kids around in the back yard. There was a swing set, with a slide and a little clubhouse attached to it, that looked way too new to have been the one that Paige grew up with. Emily realized that they must have put it up for Abby and Brendan. She could tell that what Paige had said was true: Nick loved kids. Part of her wanted to be out there with them. She consoled herself by telling herself how important it was for Nick to spend time with his daughter and the kids.

But it wasn't uncomfortable or awkward being in the kitchen instead, because Marlene was good company. She wanted to know all about Emily; what she had studied in school, how she enjoyed her job, what it felt like living in the house she grew up in, how her parents were doing.

Still, watching them out there like that, Emily realized how much she missed her parents. And she realized how much she loved that woman out there, running around like big kid herself, letting Abby and Brendan tackle her and bury her under a pile of leaves. And she realized how much she wanted for that to be their lives: Looking out of the window as Paige played with their kids, tapping on the glass to get their attention so that she could gesture them inside, finally having to go out there and chastise her wife, "Paige! The kids have school tomorrow! They need to get cleaned up for dinner!"

Emily smiled to herself at how at the huge flight of fancy her mind had taken. Marlene picked up on her smile and put her arm around Emily's shoulder. "Honestly, they'd be out there all night, if we let them!" Emily laughed knowingly, and Marlene backed away. "You should be out there with them!"

"Oh, no, Marlene," she said, a bit guilty. "Besides, I don't want to spoil their fun!"

Marlene took Emily to the dinner table and pulled out a seat, gesturing for her to sit down. She took the seat next to Emily and turned it so that she was facing her. Emily knew something serious was coming. Marlene's voice dipped down to just above a whisper. "You know, Emily, I love Paige to death, but, let's face it: She's not really one to make a move without being painstakingly over-cautious." Emily smiled politely, but, inside, she was laughing uncontrollably. _You really don't know your daughter at all, do you?_

"My point," Marlene continued, "is that I've heard the way that Paige talks about you. I know that her feelings for you are really strong, and I think your feelings are pretty strong for her, too?" Emily opened her mouth to reply, but she didn't get the chance to. "Listen, I don't want to pressure you at all, in any way. I just wanted to tell you, if you _do_ feel strongly for Paige, don't let it frustrate you that she's a little bit slow to move things forward. And, Emily, just realize that you might need to take the lead on this one." Marlene raised her eyebrow and cocked her head at Emily, to make sure Emily realized what she was suggesting: Emily would have to be the one to propose.

Emily nodded, accepting the advice. _Oh, boy, are you in for a surprise at dinner_ , she thought to herself. Not giving anything away, all she said was, "I love your daughter very much, Marlene."

* * *

Abby kept looking at Paige and Emily all throughout dinner with a big smile on her face. She knew that she couldn't spoil their big news, but she couldn't understand why it was taking so long for them to get to it. Finally, after the meal was complete, and everyone was taking a moment to digest their food, Paige spoke up. "Well, Mom, Dad, Emily and I have an announcement to make."

Marlene's mouth went wide, and she stared at Emily, embarrassed that Emily had let her go on and on about Paige's tentativeness when they were already engaged. Emily shrugged her shoulders and gave her an apologetic smile. It was _their_ news to tell, not Emily's.

Nick looked at the couple and at his wife, wanting someone to clue him in, but no one was saying anything. "So, what is it?"

"They're getting married!" Abby shouted, immediately covering her mouth, feeling guilty for having broken her promise to keep the secret.

"Oh, Abby, it's okay!" Paige assured her, when she saw the apologetic way that Abby was collapsing into herself. "You didn't spoil our secret, Honey!"

"When someone says, 'We have an announcement,'" Emily explained, "everyone knows what it means."

"Everyone except Grandpa Nick!" Marlene said, laughing.

Emily slipped the ring out of her pocket and onto her finger under the table. When she showed everybody, Marlene took her hand and pulled it in for a closer look. "Good job, Paige!" Nicked said approvingly. Abby gasped with excitement, which only increased when Emily slipped it off of her finger and onto hers.

Brendan decided that he wanted a ring to try on, too. "Where's your wing, Mommy P?"

"I'm afraid I won't get mine until the wedding, Champ!"

"How come Mommy Em has her wing?"

"Because I'm the one who asked her to marry me." Emily took a sly glance at Marlene, in time to catch the surprise she registered at that admission.

They moved to the more comfortable seats in the living room as they discussed more details about the wedding: a small ceremony, in Rosewood, in a church. Paige rolled her eyes when Nick asked, "So, you going to wear a dress or what, Kiddo?"

"Really, Dad? Really? How come nobody ever asks Emily that question?"

* * *

Paige saw the look on Abby's face when she tucked her in that night, and she knew that something was on her mind. "Everything okay, Abby?"

Abby nodded. "Mommy P.," she said softly, "I understand that Brendan and I can't go to your wedding."

Paige looked at Emily, confused.

"Don't you want to come?" Emily asked.

"I do, but it's okay. I'm not sad."

"Well, we'll have to ask your mother, but I'm sure that she'll say yes."

"I know, but you said that you had to have a small wedding, because it's too far for everyone to travel."

"Oh, Honey!" Paige lifted her into a hug. "That doesn't mean that we don't want you there!"

"Really?" Abby , excited at the news, looked to Emily, who nodded her agreement.

"Of course we want you there. In fact, Ms. Emily and I were hoping that you would be our flower girl, and Brendan would be our ring bearer."

Abby's whole face lit up, and she gasped with excitement. "Can I tell Brendan?"

"Well, let's wait till the morning," Paige advised. "If we wake him now, he might forget by the time morning comes around."

"But then, we'd get to tell him twice!"

* * *

As Emily and Paige changed for bed, Emily remarked, "God, it just melts my heart when they call me 'Mommy Em.'"

Paige hugged her. "There's nothing like that, is there? To know that you're 'Mom' to them."

"Yeah," Emily said softly.

"Man. They've just… been through so much separation, and so many comings and goings. The fact that Abby was able to talk herself into being okay with not coming to the wedding… No kid should have to be that strong."

Emily, still in the hug, pulled Paige's head down onto her shoulder, stroking her hair. "They're such great kids, Paige," she assured her. "And don't think you had nothing to do with that."

"How about my Dad? Ripping out the dress-or-tux question! I swear, sometimes..."

"Paige," Emily said as she settled into Paige's arms, "you've got to let this 'are you going to wear a dress' thing go."

"I know, I know." In actuality, it didn't bother Paige as much as she pretended. She just wanted Emily to be all the more surprised on their wedding day, when she found out that Paige had taken Spencer's advice.

"You know that I don't care what you wear, right?"

"I know," Paige said, one more time.

"And that's all that matters, right?"

Paige kissed the back of Emily's neck through her hair. "Of course it is."

"Mmm." Emily pulled Paige's arms tighter around herself and closed her eyes. She lay there, listening to the hum of the clock-radio by the bed, the occasional "ding" of the elevator as it journeyed past their floor, and the opening and closing of doors in the hallway. When she couldn't take it anymore, she swiftly rolled over to face her fiancée. "Paige, what are you going to wear to our wedding?"

Paige chuckled. "Oh, no! You don't get to see it till the wedding. It's bad luck!"


	27. The Bike Ride

Emily was smiling in anticipation as Paige led her by the hand to her dad's garage after breakfast with her parents. Paige had "something to show her." Emily had a pretty good idea what that "something" was. The morning had seemed to drag on. As much as Emily enjoyed spending time with Paige's family, it had been a long time since they had some time all to themselves. Their bedroom in the suite wasn't enough. It had a door, but they had to leave it open, so they could hear in case anyone woke up crying. There was no telling when little feet would come waltzing in, afraid of the dark or the unfamiliar surroundings, needing a drink, or having had a bad dream.

The garage was dark, with only two slivers of light leaking in through the windows on the garage door. Paige tugged at the chain to turn on the overhead light and smiled with delight as she theatrically pulled away a tarp, unveiling her baby. "There's she is," she said with pride, gripping the handlebars to get the feel of them again. "What do you think?"

Emily pursed her lips and nodded. "Impressive..." _Not as impressive as what I thought you had dragged me out here to show me but..._ "Your dad's?" Emily ran her hand along the leather seat, shifting her excitement to the thing that had Paige so excited.

"Mine," Paige replied, obviously surprised that Emily had assumed otherwise

Emily furrowed her brow and shook her head. "Paige, those things are so dangerous..."

"Not the way I ride, Babe! Cat-like reflexes!" Paige raised her hand up, brandishing it like a claw. "Rawr!"

_Babe?_

"So, what do you say?" Paige asked with an easy smile and a wiggle of the eyebrows. "Wanna be my motorcycle mama?"

"Okay, Paige – of the three times you've proposed to me, this one is definitely the worst."

Paige continued, undeterred. "I could get one of those leather jackets with a patch on the back that says, 'If you can read this, the bitch fell off!'"

Emily gasped, striking Paige sharply on the shoulder. "Paige! You are _not_ getting one of those misogynistic jackets!"

Paige, refusing to back down from her macho stance, just stood there, fire in her eyes; daring Emily to call her on it.

Emily didn't know what had gotten into Paige. She had never seen her like that before – the badass biker chick; so smug. So _annoyingly_ smug. And so damned sexy. She grabbed fistfuls of Paige's top and kissed the smirk right off of her face.

Paige wasn't used to being kissed so aggressively by Emily. There was something different about the kiss; it was more hungrily passionate. When Emily released her, the smirk came back. "Ooh!" she teased, "She loves the bad girl!"

"Badass girl," Emily muttered.

"Huh?"

Before Paige knew what hit her, Emily had her backed up against Nick's workbench. Her left hand had a tight grip on Paige's cheeks while her tongue worked urgently between them. Her right hand had made its way underneath Paige's top and was groping at her breast. Paige's knees started to buckle.

The great thing about young children is that they're not very subtle. Emily heard Abby and Brendan's lumbering feet and excited voices long before the kids made it to the garage; heard them in time to disengage her hands and lips from Paige and to smooth Paige's top back into shape.

Paige quickly wiped her lips dry.

"Mommy P! Mommy P!" There was excitement in Abby's voice. Brendan's jaw dropped in amazement at the chrome-and-leather machine in front of them.

"Mommy P, can we ride it?"

"Of course you can, Pumpkin!"

"Uh, Paige..." Worry was etched into Emily's forehead. As if the safety concerns with a motorcycle weren't enough, there was only one helmet dangling from one of the handlebars, and it wasn't child-sized. Paige gave her a wink. Emily trusted her.

"And, the best thing is," Paige told Abby as she raised the garage door backed the bike outside, "since Mommy Em is here, you guys don't have to take turns! Two laps; no waiting!"

Paige straddled the seat in front and rose up from it. "One, two..." The kids and Emily joined her as she counted. On "three," she stomped on the pedal and the machine roared to life.

"Yay!" everybody cheered.

Paige reached down and pulled Abby onto her lap. Abby faced her, wrapping her arms around Paige as far as they would go. Emily picked up on the cue and sat behind Paige, pulling Brendan into the same pose. Abby squealed with delight as Paige placed the oversized helmet on her head while the engine rumbled powerfully, the bike idling in the driveway.

Emily couldn't stop smiling. She had seen Paige, in a matter of minutes, soften from badass biker chick to doting mother. She rubbed Paige's shoulder affectionately.

"Okay, Champ," Paige said after a bit, taking the helmet off of Abby's head. "Let's give your little brother a turn." Paige handed the helmet over her shoulder to Emily, and Emily put it over Brendan'S head - and much of his shoulders.

As much as Emily was enjoying their time with the kids, she really wanted some time with Paige by herself. Badass Paige had gotten her so worked up back in the garage, and, now, "Mommy P" was working on her feels.

The steady rumbling of the leather seat between her thighs wasn't helping matters, either.

"Hey, little ones!" The sound of Nick McCullers' booming voice broke Emily out of her reverie. "Grandma Molly said that we were supposed to take two little munchkins out to the movies and ice cream, but I guess she must've been talking about two other little munchkins!"

"No!" Abby and Brendan protested loudly, falling over themselves to get off the bikes and wrap themselves around Nick's legs.

"Mommy Em, are you coming?" Brendan asked, looking back at Emily with the most angelic face. Emily looked at Paige, her pout asking how they could say no to those two.

"We'll catch up with you at the ice cream parlor," Paige told him, and he nodded, his smile still just as wide.

Paige and Emily waved a fond good-bye to the foursome as they loaded into the rental car. The car seats were already in that car, so it made more sense for Nick to drive it than to move them than to move the seats into Nick's car. "Have fun," Paige said sweetly. No sooner had car rounded the corner than she had the bike back in the garage and covered, the garage door down, and her back against the wall, her lips being hungrily devoured by Emily's.

"How long do you think the movie is?" Emily asked when she came up for air.

"90 minutes – a couple of hours if we're lucky." Emily nodded before assaulting Paige's lips again. "How fast do you think we can get back to the hotel?" Paige breathed.

 _The hotel? Seriously? Fuck that!_ Emily undid the button on Paige's jeans and shoved her hand inside.

Paige's moan rattled the oil cans on the shelves. _Oh, so that's how we're playing it?_ Paige seized Emily's hands and shoved them behind her back – a little too sharply, in her haste. Emily bit her lip to keep from crying out in pain. She had her badass biker babe back. She didn't want to risk having Paige go back into nurturing, "Mommy P" mode.

* * *

They did end up going back to the hotel before they met up with the family, but only to freshen up. And Emily needed to change the shirt that Paige had ripped in her reckless abandon. It was okay, Emily assured her. It wasn't even her favorite shirt.

"Shit, Paige," she said, as she reached over to the driver's side to stroke Paige's hair, "You tossed me around like a sack of potatoes. When did you get so fucking strong?"

Paige had been hearing a lot of words that she wasn't used to hearing out of Emily's mouth that day. It all started when the tarp came off the motorcycle. "I don't know," she said softly. "Adrenaline, I guess." She shrugged her shoulders and dipped her head shyly. "I'm sorry."

"God – don't apologize," Emily said sweetly. She tickled her fingers across the back of Paige's neck. "I'm not complaining!"

"Is your back okay?" Paige wondered, risking a guilty look in Emily's direction. She had repeatedly backed Emily against a protruding bolt on her father's pegboard. It was definitely going to leave a mark. But, at least, it was easily covered. The same couldn't be said for many of the other marks Paige had made.

"Paige," Emily whined, grazing her fingernails across Paige's cheek. "Remember?" She let her voice drop seductively. "I like the bad girl."

* * *

"That's a nice scarf, Mommy Em," Abby observed, stroking the softness of the scarf that Emily had hastily picked up from the store in the hotel's lobby..

"Aw, thank you, Honey."

"Can I try it?"

"Maybe a little later," Emily said pleasantly. "I'm a little bit cold. You know, from all of this ice cream."

"It's really good ice cream, isn't it, Abby?" Paige was trying her best to deflect Abby's focus away from the scarf.

Abby nodded and shoved down another heaping spoonful, smiling, unsuspecting.

As Emily leaned closer to Brendan to wipe some of the residue off of his chin, he caught a whiff of the hotel's body wash. "Mommy Em, did you take a shower?"

"Yes, I did, Hon."

"Another one?" His voice went higher to express his disbelief. It was enough of a chore for him to take two baths in the same week.

Emily nodded. "Mommy P. took me on a little ride after you two left," she explained, not missing a beat, "and I got a little sweaty."

"You smell really pretty," he said, giving her a hug and an ice-creamy kiss on the cheek.

"Hey, how's that old bike of yours holding up?" Nick knew that Emily wasn't talking about a motorcycle ride, but there was no need to tip the kids off to that.

"Uh… great!" Paige's response came out a little too rushed. It was obvious that the question had caught her off guard. "Yeah." She smiled gamely, taking the free pass that her dad was extending to her. "Really great, actually. Thanks for keeping it tuned up for me."


	28. Exes and OMGs

"Are you sure I can't bring you anything other than water while you wait?" the server asked sadly, refilling the water glass.

"No, thanks. I'm sorry. She should be here any minute."

The server gave her a sympathetic smile. He had seen this before. It was obvious that her date had stood her up.

"She's always late…"

 _Of course she is,_ the waiter thought as he glided away from the table.

"Oh – wait! There she is now!"

The waiter turned to the opening door and gave the diner a smile, as if he had known all along that her date would show up.

The smile of relief faded into a look of confusion when she saw that the girl wasn't alone.

"Hi, Shana." Paige's expression was confused, too, when she noticed that there were only two seats at the table.

"Oh… Sorry. I didn't realize you'd be bringing your girlfriend." Shana turned to Emily, trying to mask her disappointment. "So, it's Emily, in the flesh."

Emily nodded, acknowledging Shana's greeting, or whatever it was. Looking back and forth between the two of them quickly, she offered, "Why don't I give you two a minute?" Paige didn't let go of her hand. Emily squeezed Paige's hand and continued, "I need to freshen up, and it looks as if the two of you need to talk."

Emily wasn't worried about leaving Paige alone with her ex. But she and Paige had no idea that Shana was expecting a one-on-one meeting. Since Shana was desperate enough to try something like that, Emily reasoned that it would be best to let the two of them talk; to get everything settled once and for all.

Paige pulled Emily in for a quick kiss before she let go of her hand, and motioned the server over to ask him for another chair before she sat down.

"I… wanted to let you know. I came out to my parents."

Paige's face lit up. "That's great, Shana! I'm really happy for you."

"I have you to thank for it."

"Me? What did I do?"

"You made me realize that some things were worth fighting for." Paige dipped her head. Shana reached across the table, stopping herself before she touched Paige's hand. She didn't stop herself because she realized how inappropriate it would be to hold Paige's hand when Paige was with someone else. It was force of habit. Shana was used to restraining herself from gestures like that in public.

"I wish I had fought harder for you," Shana said, looking away to shield her emotions from Paige's view. She added, "I should never have let you go to that wedding with her."

"Shana," Paige said as patiently as she could, "Emily's not the problem here."

"I get it." Shana shook her head. "I messed it up."

"You weren't ready, and that's okay."

Paige's phone buzzed. "Is that Emily?"

Paige picked up her phone, although she didn't think that Emily would be so insecure as to text her to check up on her. When she opened the message, she smiled. "No." She showed Shana the picture of Abby and Brendan that Marlene had texted her. Shana smiled half-heartedly.

Paige ran her fingers through her hair. She wanted to give Shana some sympathy and understanding, but this play that she had made was way out of line. "Shana, what, exactly, were you hoping to accomplish here?"

Shana looked down at her place setting. "I guess I was just hoping that, somehow, things weren't all that serious between you and Emily."

Paige scowled. "No. You know that I brought her here to meet my parents and my kids."

"I know, I know." Shana still couldn't look up. Her voice and her expression were sullen. "But you asked me what I was hoping for. I guess I was hoping for a second chance."

Paige squeezed Shana's wrist. "I'm sure you'll get that second chance, Shana. But you have to realize that it's not going to be with me. You're going to find somebody…"

Shana laughed bitterly. "Don't do that, Paige. At least leave me with my dignity."

* * *

Shana put on her best face when Emily returned. When she caught a glimpse of Emily's ring, she forced a smile. "Congratulations," she told her before turning to Paige. "I didn't know." Her eyes were asking Paige to understand that she wouldn't have tried anything like that if she had known that the two were engaged.

"Yeah, that's why we came out here, to let the family know."

Paige started to get up, offering to sit in the empty chair next to Shana, rather than making Emily sit next to her. Emily put her hand on Paige's shoulder to let her know that she didn't need to bother. It was going to be uncomfortable seating arrangement either way; either Paige or her fiancée next to her jealous ex.

Shana was on her best behavior throughout dinner. She was even smiling as she and Paige reminisced about old times. Emily didn't begrudge her that. She actually laughed out loud, gaining lots of new material to tease Paige about later.

It was more like two old friends than to ex-girlfriends reminiscing; a consequence of how far in the closet Shana had been. And maybe that's why Emily was so okay with it. Paige kept looking over to confirm that Emily was okay, but she really didn't need to bother. Emily was secure in their relationship. Paige had given her every reason to be. And, after all, she had given her a ring.

"So, has she shown you her 'baby?'" Shana asked over dessert. Emily gave a confused stare, so Shana elaborated. "That death machine out in the garage?"

"Oh, yeah!" Emily's legs reflexively squeezed together a bit at the memory of biker-chick Paige. "So, you're not a fan of it, either?"

"Oh, God, no!" Shana all but shouted. Paige threw her hands up in surrender, obviously outnumbered in the discussion. "Did she take you out for a ride?"

"Not yet!" Emily's response was more enthusiastic than she had expected. "Just in the driveway, with the kids."

"Oh, yeah. That." Shana scoffed. "She couldn't even get me on it for that." Shana leaned in a little, her voice getting deeper. "Don't take this the wrong way, but it's just a little too cliché for me, if you know what I mean."

Emily rolled her eyes. There was really no right way to take that. Still, she was glad that Paige had never taken Shana out for a ride. It was silly, but, somehow, Emily's brain made the connection between riding Paige's bike and sex. And she definitely wanted to think that Paige had never gone riding with Shana.

They had never discussed it. It didn't make sense to think that Emily was Paige's one and only riding partner. Paige certainly handled the equipment like a seasoned pro. And it wasn't as if Paige had been Emily's first. Still, Emily didn't like to think about the others; didn't like to think about the fact that there had been any others.

Emily took comfort in knowing that Shana was hundreds of miles away, back when she and Paige were pretending to date. She didn't think that she could handle the knowledge that, through all their hand-holding, dancing, and kissing, Paige was going home to someone else's arms; to someone else's bed. Even though they were fake kisses; even though the whole thing had been fake, the thought that Paige could have slept with Shana and still been so convincing with Emily would have been devastating.

* * *

Paige and Emily stopped by Paige's parents' house too pick up the kids, but the kids were fast asleep. Nick and Marlene had worn them out, loading them up with sugar and letting them chase around the yard until their sugar-highs wore off. They decided that it would be best not to wake them. They just looked in on them, kissing their sleeping heads, before they headed back to the hotel.

Emily placed her hand on Paige's thigh as Paige drove back to the hotel. "How do you feel?"

Paige looked over with a smile. "I feel good," she said. "How do you feel?"

Emily smiled back at her. "Good."

"I'm sorry about dinner, Em. I swear, I had no idea..."

Emily squeezed her thigh slightly. "I know." Paige smiled weakly. "Paige, I know that this was about closure for her, not for you."

Paige nodded. "God - what was that comment about motorcycle-riding being too much of a cliché?"

Emily patted her shoulder. "Right? Is she even gay?"

Paige shrugged her shoulders. "When you left, she told me that she came out to her parents."

"As what?" Paige laughed out loud. "I mean, I don't want to trash your friend, Paige, but - I don't know. She just seems like one of those girls who likes the thought of being with a woman, but not the nuts and bolts of being with a woman, you know what I mean?"

"Yeah." Paige chuckled sadly. Emily didn't know the half of it.

As they lay in bed that night, Emily tapped Paige on the shoulder. "Paige?"

Paige rolled over and gave a sleepy, "Yeah?"

"I know that it's none of my business, but..."

Paige ran her fingers over Emily's hair. "You can ask me anything."

"I was just wondering whether you and Shana were..."

Paige scoffed. "No," she said softly, shaking her head. "You know that comment about motorcycles?" Emily nodded. "Well, that's not the only thing she thought was too cliché. I mean, she was okay with kissing and making out, but when it came to 'Gay Stuff'- " Paige made air quotes around the phrase and let the thought hang. "She was more than happy to receive, but..."

"Oh, Paige!" Emily gave Paige a hug, kissing her as they separated.

"Yeah, I know."

"You deserve so much better than that."

Paige chuckled. "Yeah, I know. I guess I knew that, but... Sometimes, you stick with a situation, even though you know it sucks, because, you know... what else are you going to do? I mean, in a small town like this, it's not as if I had a lot of options."

As Paige looked away, Emily took her by the chin and held her gaze. "I'm so glad that you moved to Rosewood, then."

"Not half as glad as I am," Paige said, kissing her. A moment later, she continued. "You know, I think that part of the reason that it was so hard for me, back when we were pretending to be together and we kissed, was that I knew that feeling... starting to get - _worked up_ , and knowing that I needed to cool it down, because she 'wasn't ready.'"

Emily rolled her eyes. "But she was ready when it was her turn."

Paige smiled sadly. Emily regretted having started the discussion. She knew that it was hard for Paige to have to relive it, and embarrassing to admit. And, yet, she was glad to have a little more understanding - not just about why Paige behaved the way she did when she ran away after those fake kisses that got too intense - but more understanding about Paige's past in general. Emily grabbed Paige behind the neck and began kissing her desperately. Before Paige could ask what was going on, Emily whispered sultrily in her ear, letting her her lips glide against its lobe, "I'm going to get you worked up the right way."


	29. Faking, Too

"I told Hanna that we'd have dinner with her on Friday, okay?" Emily announced as she rubbed cleanser into her forehead. Paige was next to her in front of the mirror, flossing. She just shook her head and smiled. "What?"

"You always do that."

"Do what?"

"You tell me what you've done, and then ask me whether or not it's okay. I mean, it's not as if I have a choice at that point. Like, what am I going to say, 'No, you'll have to cancel.'?"

"I'm sorry," Emily said with a hand on Paige's shoulder, her voice going high. "You could always say no."

Paige raised an eyebrow at her. "Really?"

"I don't know." Emily sighed. "I guess not really."

Paige nudged her shoulder. "It's okay." She shrugged it off. "It's cute."

"Yeah - it's cute now, but after we've been together for a couple of months, you're going to resent it." _You're going to resent me._

Paige laughed amiably. "No, I'll still be so giddy over the fact that you're actually with me that you can get away with pretty much anything you want to."

"Good," Emily said with a smirk, "because I've still got a lot of things that I want to get away with." Emily scowled playfully at Paige, and Paige scowled back.

"I'm going shopping with Spencer on Friday, too."

"Oh yeah? Did you want to invite her to dinner, too?"

"Not necessarily," Paige said with a shrug. "Just letting you know."

"Oh, okay. Good. Because Hanna wants to double."

"Really? She's dating?"

"Not yet," Emily said, her voice inflecting up at the end, "but that's the plan!"

"Oh, God. I don't think I'm ready for Hanna on the prowl!"

Their conversation continued as they made their way to bed. "So, how's it coming with Spencer, anyway?"

"It's coming along." Paige gave it a moment of thought. "Yeah. It's good."

"Good," Emily said. She looked enticingly into Paige's eyes, with a sly smile. "Paige..." she cooed in a low voice.

"Oh, no!"

"No what?"

"There's no way that I'm going to tell you what I'm wearing for the wedding."

"Paige!" she whined.

"Emily!" Paige mock-whined back.

"I thought I was so cute that I could get whatever I wanted," Emily protested, sliding her fingertips up and down, inside the front of Paige's top."

Paige wriggled away. "Oh, no you don't."

"Why won't you tell me?" Emily's whining was actually kind of cute.

"I haven't decided yet?" Emily just glared at her. "Hey - what's your mom going to wear?"

"I'm not a three-year-old, Paige," Emily scoffed. "You can't just distract me like that."

"Well, can I distract you like this?" Paige's voice was extra-breathy against the back of Emily's neck.

Emily sighed. "Fine. Whatever. Fine. If the pictures suck, it'll be all your fault!"

"I'm willing to take that risk," Paige assured her, as she nipped at Emily's flesh.

"Just for the record," Emily said as her breath hitched, "you didn't distract me. I'm just get tired of arguing with you when you're being so stubborn."

"Oh, of course," Paige said in a low voice before wrapping her lips around Emily's ear lobe and sucking lightly. "I understand completely."

"God, I hate it when you're cocky, Paige!" Emily spent the rest of the night showing Paige just how much she hated it.

* * *

"I don't know, Spencer. Are you sure about these colors?"

"Ugh!" Spencer couldn't suffer being asked the same question over and over. "I might as well be shopping with Hanna," she said under her breath.

"Hey - no need to go there," Paige said, smiling.

"Yes, I'm sure, Paige. God... Colors are wavelengths of light. It's simple physics, for fuck's sake!"

"Okay, okay, okay. No need to get all geeked out on me. I took physics, too, you know."

"Physics for jocks, I bet," Spencer muttered.

Paige just chuckled, letting that comment go. "Look, the only thing I care about is whether or not Emily will like it. She'll kill me if I kept her out of the loop this whole time and I show up with something that doesn't knock her socks off."

Spencer sighed. "It'll be fine. Look at it this way: You're wearing a suit, you're surprising her, so that's two out of three right there. Even if the suit sucks, you've still got a 66.7% chance of making Emily happy."

"Well, that's assuming that the three factors carry equal weight. And that they're the only three factors."

"Granted. So, the color scheme is, at most 10% of what's important to Emily. And the other factors are negligible. So, you've got the suit, and assuming you nail the surprise factor, you've certainly got odds of at least 88% in favor of you blowing her away. And, that's assuming that I'm totally wrong about the colors." Under her breath, Spencer added, "Which I'm not."

Paige groaned, looking at herself in the three-way mirror again. She gave the tailor's assistant a look, and she nodded. "Okay!" she said with a smile, repeating the word more enthusiastically. "Okay! Let's do this!"

As the sales associate punched buttons and scanned codes, Paige, leaning with one elbow on the counter, asked, "Is Hanna on board?"

Spencer nodded. "No need to worry about Hanna. She's very good at these things."

* * *

"So, how did you two get together?" Caleb asked as they waited for their food.

"Oh," Hanna interjected before Paige or Emily could reply. "It's the classic girl-meets-girl story. They were neighbors, but too shy to approach each other... One day, Emily got Paige's mail, and the rest is history."

Caleb chuckled. "Wow." He didn't know Hanna that well, but, from what he knew of her, it seemed to be perfectly in-character for her to take over someone else's story.

"Well, actually..." Paige thought that the entire story was worth telling, even if Hanna was ready to move the focus from the answer to Caleb's question and onto herself.

Emily, though, knew Hanna better, and knew that there had to be a reason that she had left out the details. She squeezed Paige's thigh and interrupted her. "Actually, it wasn't so simple. This one made me work for it!" She laughed and gave Paige a kiss.

"So," Hanna announced. "Caleb's going to be my plus one at the wedding!"

Paige and Emily looked at each other, then at Caleb, trying to hide their shock.

"Yeah," Hanna continued. "I told him how desperate my Mom was to fix me up with someone, so he agreed to help me out." Caleb turned his palms up on the table, as if to say "Why not?"

"So, we have to get used to acting like a couple." Hanna pulled Caleb's arm around her shoulder and rested her head on his shoulder. "What do you think?"

Emily looked at Paige. Paige raised her glass for a toast. "What could possibly go wrong?"

* * *

Before dessert, Emily left Paige with Caleb while she and Hanna went to have a talk in the restroom. "Remember when you told me what a horrible idea it was for me to ask Paige to pretend that we were together? I should just be honest, remember?"

Hanna shrugged. "I was wrong!" As she leaned in to reapply some blush, she added, "Besides, this is totally different."

Emily scoffed. "Why? Because Caleb's a guy?"

"Uh, no! Because you were pretending so you could fool your mom. I'm pretending so I can get a boyfriend."

"Oh, yeah, that makes so much sense!"

"Hey," Hanna said with a flourish. "It worked for you and Paige! And for every couple who tried it in every rom-com ever filmed!"

As the moments passed and Hanna and Emily still hadn't returned, Caleb leaned low above the table, angling his body towards Paige, his voice a whisper. "So, what actually goes on in there? Why does it always take so long?"

Paige tossed her head back and laughed. "Can't tell you. Girl code!"

* * *

"So, what did you think of Caleb?"

Paige smiled heartily. "I think that he's in for a very interesting life!"

"So, do you think that Hanna's plan is actually going to work?"

Paige laughed. "I wouldn't bet against Hanna when she's going after something she wants. Besides" Paige squeezed Emily's shoulder. "It worked for us!"

"Yeah, but we're different. We were always going to end up together."

"You didn't always seem so sure."

Emily put her hands on Paige's cheeks. "Only because you were being such an annoying little..." Emily kissed her.

Paige smiled widely. "But you love me," she husked softly.

Emily sighed melodramatically. "Heaven help me, I _do_ love you, McCullers!"

* * *

"I don't know, Em," Hanna said as Emily held one of the dresses that she was considering up to her neck. "Are you sure that you want to go sleeveless?"

Emily looked offended. "Why wouldn't I go sleeveless?" She took a look at her bare arms. "Are you saying I'm losing definition or something?"

"Well, no, but... Do you really want to get into a gun fight with your fiancée? I mean, have you seen what she's packing? She even gave Caleb a run for his money last night..."

Emily wrinkled her forehead. "Wait, Paige is getting a sleeveless dress?"

"What? No... I don't know. I was speaking hypodermically!"

"Hypo..." Emily shook her head. It wasn't worth it. "Hanna, what do you know?"

Hanna tightened her lips and shook her head.

Emily sighed. "What did Spencer tell you?" she asked sharply

"She didn't tell me anything! I was saying just in case! Because..." Hanna stuttered over her words. "You know... with arms like that, Paige is liable to go sleeveless. But, that's just a theory. So, whatever, fine! Let's look at sleeveless!"

Emily stared at Hanna a little longer before she took another look at her reflection behind the dress. When Emily looked away, Hanna muttered, "And Paige can just put a wrap over her shoulders for the pictures."

* * *

Emily was fighting her disappointment over the news that Hanna had leaked. It wasn't rational for her to want Paige to dress up for her. It was Paige's wedding, too, and, if Paige wanted to dazzle in a sleeveless wedding dress, she should get the chance to do so. After all, Paige was only going to get one chance to be a bride - if Emily had to say anything about it - so she should get the same opportunity that Emily wanted, to do it her way.

Emily tried to focus her energy on how good Paige would look in her white, flowing, sleeveless dress, with her "guns," as Hanna so non-poetically called them, on display for all to see. The more she thought of it, she couldn't be too sad about the fact that Paige was planning to wear a dress. Paige, in a sleeveless dress, with her shoulders on display - and that collarbone... Who wouldn't want show that off? Who wouldn't want to let the world know how hot her bride was?

And yet, Paige just looked so damned hot in a suit. Paige could do "gorgeously feminine," but there was something harder; edgier; cockier about her. Emily couldn't erase the vision in her mind's eye of Paige in something all dramatic and black, with slacks and heels, holding her tight as they made their way around the dance floor. And lifting her off her feet and throwing her onto the bed later that night, in the hotel. Paige could still do those things in a dress, of course. In a dress, she would still be Paige. But in a tux - _damn!_


	30. Wedding Central

In the final weeks leading up to the wedding, Emily's house became a hive of activity; - Wedding Central, as Paige called it - and Emily ended up temporarily moving into Paige's house to escape all of the craziness there.

Pam flew out for a couple of weeks to help. She went along with the engaged couple and their wedding coordinator, Hanna, to make arrangements, sample menus, look at dresses, and get out the "Save the Date" mailing.

It was definitely Hanna's affair, though. She was born for it. It wasn't just her designer's and her attention to detail; it was her insider's knowledge of the industry - designers, florists, caterers - and her ability to negotiate the best deals, by any means necessary. She wasn't above using either her charms or her influence to tease the very best deal out of the vendors. They knew that, if Hanna was satisfied, she would tell everybody - and the same would be true if she was dissatisfied. They aimed to please.

The reception was to be held at the meeting hall of the local chapter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Emily and Paige were entitled to a discount because Wayne's had served in combat overseas. Throw in the fact that Wayne was something of a local legend among the veterans in Rosewood - and add Pam's connections from her work with the police department (whose chief was, himself, a vet), and the got the hall for next to nothing, having to pay only a cleaning fee.

With the money they saved, they were able to afford a slightly larger wedding and some of the extras that would make the date truly memorable. It also meant that they could afford to pay the airfare for Abby, Brendan, and their mother, who would not have been able to afford to come or to send the children otherwise.

Before Paige and Emily caught up with what was going on around them, spring had turned to summer, and summer was meandering into fall. On a warm Friday night in early September, they found themselves in the chapel, running through the ceremony, making sure that everybody knew just where to stand, what to say and do, and when. There were lots of laughs and a few last-minute corrections.

Pam started weeping as she watched Wayne escort Emily down the aisle. Emily turned around and laughed at her. "Mom! It's just the rehearsal! What are you going to do when it's the real thing?" Wayne patted Emily's arm where it rested on top of his as he escorted her, signaling her to give her mother a break.

When it was all said and done, Hanna grabbed the microphone and announced, "All right, wedding party! Everybody head back to the WC for the rehearsal dinner!"

"Hanna," Emily laughed, "I told you, you can't call it that!"

"What? It's Wedding Central! Everybody calls it that!"

After the dinner, Hanna screened a video that she had recruited Caleb to put together, with pictures and videos of the Paige and Emily growing up combined with newer footage of the two of them together, going back to that first photo in front of Paige's mirror. Even though Hanna had done it for Emily and Paige, it didn't hurt her budding relationship with Caleb for the two of them to spend long, often late hours together, collaborating on a romantic endeavor.

As their friends and family shared anecdotes about the brides-to-be, a couple of people made mention of how Paige and Emily came to know each other. There were some gasps as family members who had been at Dominick's wedding learned of the deception for the first time. Caleb raised his eyebrows at Hanna, all of a sudden wondering whether or not there was something more behind her request for him to pretend to be her boyfriend. The way that Hanna avoided his gaze told him all that he needed to know. He no longer needed to pretend that he was just doing her a favor.

After the dinner, Wayne took Emily and Paige aside. "Emmy, he began, there's something that I need to tell you. And, Paige, you're part of the family, now, so this is for you to hear, too. You know, Emily, back when I had those problems with my heart, back when I had to retire from the service, there were some days when it really looked bad for me. Your mother and I never told you how dire it was, because we didn't want to burden you while you were concentrating on getting your education, but it was bad. We almost called you when the doctors told me that I needed to start getting my affairs in order. But, Emily, the one thought that got me through those days, the one thing I focused on during those tough days in physical therapy when I felt like giving up, was this - what we rehearsed here tonight. The thought of walking you down the aisle tomorrow is what got me through. I promised myself that I would be there for this moment."

Emily burst into tears. Wayne Fields was the definition of "Army Strong;" hearing that he had felt like giving up let her know just how serious his condition had to have been.

Ordinarily, Paige would have comforted Emily when she got like that, but she deferred to Wayne, letting them have their father-daughter moment. Emily placed her hand on Wayne's heart, feeling its strong, steady beat. It was a ritual that began when Emily stood vigil at his bedside, in those dark, early days of his struggle. In the years that passed, following his recovery, as she once again began to take her father's healthiness as a given, she had all but forgotten it.

"Don't worry," he assured her, placing his hand gently on top of hers. "I'm sticking around for my grandkids."

As Emily's sobs began to subside, Wayne told her, "I thought that I should tell you this tonight so that you could get the tears out of your system. No tears tomorrow - on the happiest day of your life!"

_Tears_

Emily ran to find Pam, and apologized for making fun of her for crying. "I had no idea."

Pam hugged her and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Your father is a strong man, Emily." Nodding towards Paige, who was off to the side, looking on in concern, Pam added, "and I'm glad that you've chosen a strong woman to marry."

* * *

Emily was adamant that she and Paige weren't going to have a bachelorette party. Hanna wasn't so sure. She seemed to be clinging to the good-bye hug a little longer than necessary. The next thing Emily knew, she was being shoved through the sliding door of a van, with Hanna, right behind her, calling, "Sorry, Paigey - You'll get her back tomorrow!"

Paige considered chasing after the van, but she decided to let Emily's friends have one last night with her. She would have Emily for the rest of their lives.

Paige spent the evening playing pool with Caleb, Wayne, and Nick the back room of a dive bar, choking on the smoke from Nick's cigar.

Her night, though, was considerably better than Emily's.

Hanna arranged a private room for her and her friends at a strip club. A _male_ strip club. It was one last chance for Emily to change her mind about men before she tied the knot. Or an opportunity to see how the other half lives. Hanna's explanation varied as the night dragged on.

Paige's pool game was periodically interrupted by texted pictures of burly, half-clothed men with comments like, "WTF?" "Do even straight women go for this?" and "You're throwing Hanna's bachelorette party. There's not enough booze in Rosewood to get me to go through something this again!"

In many of the shots, Hanna was wide-eyed and handsy. Emily looked uncomfortable and nauseous. Paige would've felt sorry for her, if her disgusted face weren't so damned cute.

After more rounds of pool than Paige was interested in, Spencer mercifully showed up to take her home - to Spencer's home - for the night. Spencer had already taken Hanna and Emily back to Paige's house. Paige was spending the night with her so that she could get dressed there in the morning and preserve the surprise about the tuxedo that she and Spencer had chosen.

* * *

Emily gasped when she woke to the feeling of a hand over her mouth. Before she could panic, she recognized the familiar scent of her fiancée and rolled over, grabbing a fistful of Paige's top and pulling her in for a kiss. Paige tumbled into the bed on top of her during the kiss, trying her best not to make any noise.

"How did you get in here?" Emily whispered. "Hanna put the chain on the door."

Paige smirked at the extra security. "You were expecting me?" Emily smiled. "There's more than one door in this house, you know."

"I was hoping that you would come."

Paige sat up, smoothing her hand over Emily's hair. "Come take a walk with me."

Emily got up and put on a robe, giggling. "You came over in your pajamas?"

Paige shrugged. "Do you think it was easy to sneak past Spencer? I'm lucky I was able to find a pair of flip flops!"

Paige took Emily's hand and led her out of the back door. They walked through her back yard to Emily's, taking a seat on a bench near the fountain. Emily sighed contentedly as she put her head on Paige's shoulder and Paige wrapped her arm around her.

"What are you thinking?"

Paige took a deep breath. "Nothing, really. I'm just feeling... content."

Emily tilted her head and kissed Paige's cheek. "I am, too."

"Are you ready for this?"

Emily sat up a little. "I am. I'd be lying if I didn't say my stomach's not all fluttery, though. It's not nerves, really. It's..."

"Nervous excitement?"

"Yeah, exactly." Emily let her head rest on Paige's shoulder again.

"I've got that, too."

Emily comfortingly rubbed Paige's chest. "I'm just glad that we have this time, you know? Just for the two of us."

Paige nodded, squeezing Emily's shoulder. They sat silently, somewhere between awake and asleep. Somewhere between nervous and excited. Somewhere between single and married.

Paige stirred, wrinkling her forehead, at a buzzing in the pocket of her sweats. She was even more confused when she looked at her phone. "How are you texting me?"

Emily laughed. "Hanna confiscated my phone." She took Paige's phone, to see what Hanna had sent.

Paige shook her head, smiling, when Emily showed her the picture that Hanna had sent of the two of them sitting together on the bench, with the message, "Aw. Cute couple. Get her back to bed (ALONE) in five minutes, or I'm coming after her."


	31. The Wedding

_Wake up, now.  
This is the time you've waited for._

Emily woke with a smile on her face. She had been anticipating this day for such a long time. She almost wished that she could fast forward through the morning and get to the chapel; get to the "I do;" get to the dances with her father and with Paige; get to the honeymoon suite.

But she remembered the advice that Aria had given her the night before: Be in the moment. Emily determined not to let any part of the experience slip by her. She was going to enjoy the morning: getting her hair and make-up done with her mother and her bridesmaids, getting into her dress, getting into the limo, and getting to the chapel.

* * *

Hanna was in full freak-out mode at the salon. She kept saying that she should have done the hair and makeup herself. They had made the decision to have it done at Mona's salon, so that Hanna could relax and be a part of the experience.

Mona's salon was more of a day-spa. It was very exclusive, catering only to a certain clientele. Emily would never have spent that kind of money on herself, but Mona was more than happy to give her and her wedding party a break, because she was good friends with Hanna. Also, the publicity that came with doing Rosewood's first lesbian wedding was priceless.

Despite Mona's reputation, and the fact that Hanna knew and trusted her from as far back as their days at Rosewood High, Hanna was far from relaxed. She was having a hard time relinquishing control. It would have been easy for Emily to have gotten caught up in Hanna's freak-out – on top of all of the other opportunities to freak out that come with being a bride on her wedding day – but Emily found her serenity by looking over at her mother. Pam Fields was just the opposite of Hanna, lying back in her chair with her hand extended for a manicure. The two of them had gotten up early and spent some time meditating and doing yoga. Emily had done it more to bond with her mother than to get to a place of serenity, but, at that moment, with the calm that she felt while Hanna everything around her was going crazy, Emily was glad that she had.

Hanna would be okay. She just needed something to go freak out over, to get the freaking out out of her system. And, apparently, Mona knew her well enough to take it in stride.

Emily's other calming place came from thoughts of Paige. She smiled at the thought of her, wondering what she was doing at the moment, who was doing her hair and makeup; who would help her into her dress; whether Marlene McCullers was, for her, the calming force for her that Pam Fields was fo Emily.

It would only be a few short hours before she got to see her bride.

* * *

"What is that?" Emily asked her mother. "You've been humming that tune all week."

Pam turned to Emily, smiling, and sang, "How can I ignore the girl next door? I love her more than I can say." She explained, "It's from the musical, 'Meet Me in St. Louis.' Judy Garland sang it." She reached over and squeezed Emily's chin. "Oh, Emmy, I wish I had exposed you to all of those classic old musicals when you were growing up!"

"Ohhhhhh-kay, Mom," Emily said good-naturedly but condescendingly as she slowly pulled her mother's hand away from her face. "Let's not ruin my make up before 'the girl next door' even gets to see it."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Honey," Pam said, smoothing over Emily's face with her finger.

Emily pulled the finger away. "Kidding – I'm only kidding, Mom!"

* * *

Wayne Fields exited the limousine and helped first Pam, then Emily out and onto the pavement leading up to the church. He extended his arms to his sides, escorting them both to the foyer. Emily arrived earlier than most brides arrive for the ceremony. She wanted to see Abby stroll down the aisle and drop the rose petals.

Abby and Brendan's eyes went wild when they saw Emily, all in white, all aglow, as she entered the chapel. Brendan started to run to her, but his mother held him back. Emily, seeing him, stooped over in invitation, spreading her arms at the side. He and Abby headed toward her, heeding their mother's command to walk as they let Emily gather them in her arms. She had kisses for both of them. She couldn't have been any prouder had they been her own children.

Spencer, Aria, and Hanna were in their places, peeking through the doorway into the chapel. They parted to form an aisle as the ushers unfurled the runner, pulling it to the front, and Abby followed with her basket of petals. Hanna, with a bit of help from Mona, had done an incredible job on the chapel and on the bridesmaids and mates. Unlike most bridesmaids' dresses, the ones that Hanna designed not only fit perfectly with the décor, but also ended up being something tasteful enough to be worn to other formal occasions.

The organ started, and Paige and her party entered from a side door. Her bridal party formed a phalanx around her, and, when they stopped in the center of the space in front of the altar, the taller males stood in front, so that Emily couldn't even see the top of Paige's head.

Dominick came and escorted Pam to her seat in the front pew. Emily's bridesmaids and their dates followed. Finally, Wayne extended his arm and led Emily on the slow walk down the aisle. Her heart was beating like crazy, and she needed the handkerchief in her right hand to wipe at her eyes, fully recognizing the weight of the moment; trying not to think that it might not have been her father walking her down the aisle, had he not fought so hard to be there for her. He peeked over at Emily, to ensure that she was okay, and she nodded, giving him a kiss on the cheek. She wasn't sure that wedding protocol allowed that, but it was her day, and she was going to do whatever the hell she felt.

When they made it to the front altar, Wayne turned to face her, putting his hands on her shoulders and kissing her on the cheek. "Are you sure about this?" he asked with a wink, and Emily laughed out loud, smacking him on the shoulder.

Wayne took his seat, and the bodies in front of Paige parted, revealing Emily's fiancée. Emily put her hands in front of her face and gasped in delight at the sight of Paige in a black tuxedo with a bright red blouse. The shirt had a v-neck collar, tastefully low, and there was a golden pendant setting off Paige's collarbone. The tuxedo was tailored into a feminine cut; not over-the-top like a Halloween costume, but very sexy. Emily's lips parted and did a little dance as she took in the view. Paige dipped her head at Emily's hungry reaction.

Somehow, in the whole chapel – in the whole world – it was just the two of them in that moment.

Paige was similarly mesmerized as Emily stood before her in her white, off-the-shoulder dress, with her hair up, save for little tendrils dangling at the sides. There were white flowers and tiny red beads woven into her hair, and a red ruby on a white choker around Emily's neck.

If it had been any other day – any other occasion – nothing could have stopped Paige from rushing over to Emily, sweeping her off her feet, and kissing her with all that she had. Instead, she walked over, slowly, and took both of Emily's hands, staring into Emily's eyes that were staring back into hers, until the final notes of the bridal march escaped from the organ. With the song over, Paige took Emily's arm, the mantle having been passed from Wayne Fields, and the two of them faced the minister.

There were readings, hymns, proclamations, and, ultimately, vows. Brendan stood ramrod straight as he approached the couple bearing the pillow with their rings on top of it. Lieutenant Colonel Fields would have been proud to have had any of his soldiers stand so still and so straight while performing their duties.

And, with an air of finality, the minister uttered the words, "You may now kiss!"

As they kissed, every kiss that they had ever exchanged rushed through Paige's consciousness, from that first, mistaken kiss of Emily's lips, to the fake kisses and the real passion that she hadn't been able to deny, to the kisses of family that they shared after a day spent with the kids and Kahlua, to the kiss in the garden the night before, when it was just the two of them (and Hanna's all-seeing eyes).

After she pronounced them married, the minister instructed the guests to wait as the ushers came to their pew and led them forward, where they would have the opportunity to greet the couple and their attendants. Many of the guests weren't going to stay for the reception, and Emily and Paige were grateful to have a few moments to spend with them and share their joy.

Following the ceremony, the wedding party took a few pictures in the chapel and in the church's garden. The time in the garden was the first opportunity that they had had all day to cut loose and be themselves. Even though everyone was still in wedding clothes, trying to keep themselves presentable for the pictures, they kept things light, with smiles, hugs, and playful jostling. All of the formal things – the things that had to be done correctly, the worry that someone whould slip up and distract from the solemnity of the occasion – those things were behind them. They could fully be themselves. Some of the pre-pictures, as everyone was settling in before the official pictures, turned the most memorable ones to Emily and Paige.

* * *

As the sun began to set, the bridal party made it to the reception hall, where they were announced to great fanfare. When Emily and Paige finally sat down at the head table, a strong sense of calm and release fell over them. This was their moment, and nothing and no one could take it away from them. They had the papers and the full weight of the United States government to prove that they were forever united as one.

When the lights dimmed and the DJ called out Emily and Wayne for their father-daughter dance, Emily kept her hand on her father's heart. "It's strong," he assured her, reminding her, "I'm not going anywhere."

Emily nodded. She thanked him for having told her the night before about the fact that he had determined to be there to walk her down the aisle; had he not, she told him, she would have lost the full significance of that moment. It felt good to be in her father's hands. She felt like a child again, carefree and safe.

When the DJ asked the guests to applaud the bride and her father, Wayne gave way and let Paige dance with her wife. And the feeling was the same for Emily; safe, carefree, and loved, in Paige's arms. She had lost count of the number of kisses that they had exchanged since they were married – the guests were only too happy to clink their glasses together to get them to kiss during the reception – but, when Emily tilted her head back to kiss Paige on the dance floor, it felt like a new beginning.

* * *

They kept the privacy shield up in the limo for the ride to Philadelphia. They kept everything T-rated, of course. What they had was too special to go at it in the back of the limousine. It was worth the wait to get to the hotel, to get each other out of their clothes, to do things slowly and appreciatively. But, in the limo, they took advantage of the opportunity to reconnect; to be just the two of them, after they had been with family and friends all day. A moment like that called for privacy.

In between kisses, Emily looked up and asked Paige when she had made the decision to wear a tuxedo. Paige went back to that conversation with Spencer, after they announced their engagement to the girls. Emily bit the corner of her lip. "I'm sorry that you had to do it for me. It's your wedding, too, and..."

"Emily," Paige interrupted. "it's fine. I mean, yeah, I wanted to make you happy but..." Paige shrugged her shoulders, reveling in the experience of the outfit she was wearing. "I don't know. There's something about wearing this thing, you know? It gives a feeling of power."

Emily's eyes widened at the mention of power. It was only for the briefest moment, but Paige picked up on it, and her lips curled into a smirk. Emily shook her head, rolling her eyes; secretly happy that she had unleashed cocky Paige.

After Emily slid the keycard into the door of their room to unlock it, Paige swept her up into her arms and kicked the door open, tossing Emily onto the bed like an overstuffed pillow. Emily squealed excitedly, but put her hands up quickly. "Just let me get out of this dress!" She didn't want to ruin the moment, but neither did she want to ruin the dress that had cost about a month's salary. When Emily reappeared in just her lingerie, it didn't take long to rekindle the fire. Paige was standing in the shadows of the room, hands in her pocket, looking like the heroine from a 1940s film-noir.

Paige took her with all the passion, intensity, and desperation of the first time experiencing something they had been anticipated for so long. And in a sense, it was the first time. Whatever they had been to each other, in their fake or in their real relationships, they had never been married.

Emily had never thought much about the significance of marriage. Indeed, for most of her life, living in Pennsylvania, there was no reason to think about it, because, by law, it could never happen. But there, in that hotel room, it was real. It had happened. The knowledge that they had just exchanged vows to love and cherish each other for as long as they lived definitely made everything feel different; more significant. Paige felt it, too. "Hey," she whispered as she helped Emily come down, "We're freaking _married_!"

But they weren't finished. After Emily let Paige have her way with her, she tenderly, lovingly, deliberately, returned the favor. She wanted to be sure that Paige knew how much she was loved and appreciated. Not that Paige had ever had any reason to doubt it, but, that night, she experienced Emily's love on another level.

* * *

**Epilogue**

The honeymoon provided a much-needed oasis for the newlyweds. After all of the build-up to the wedding and the ceremony itself, they needed time just for themselves. Even though the wedding was primarily for the two of them, to a large extent, it was about being with their friends and family. Their honeymoon, on the other hand, was an opportunity for them to get away from the rest of the world, somewhere where no one knew them or had any expectations of them other than a friendly hello and a generous tip.

And, after the blinding speed at which their relationship had progressed from pretend to real, to undeniable, to cast forever in stone, they relished the opportunity to slow things down and just enjoy being who they were, together with each other.

The two weeks were like one of those paradoxes of time: Time seemed to have been stretched and slowed, yet, before they knew it, it was time to pack up and head home. That moment came at just about the time that they started missing home, and missing their friends, and the kids; the point at which they were ready to get back to Rosewood and start building their lives together in earnest.

They had some decisions to make.

Some of those decisions were shaped by the circumstances around them.

Abby and Brendan's mother had started to go back to some of her old habits back home. She had been hanging out with some of her old squad again, and they were dragging her back into her former lifestyle. Paige realized that she needed to get away from that crowd – for her own sake and for the sake of her children - so she had Pam arrange for some of her connections in the Rosewood police and social services to line up job interviews while the family was in town for the wedding.

By the time that Paige and Emily got back from their honeymoon, the kids' mom had secured a job. The three of them moved into Paige's house - rent-free, until she got back on her feet. Paige, naturally, moved into Emily's childhood home, so that they could be close to the kids.

Abby and Brendan were grateful to have a huge yard to run around in - and a dog to run around with. Kahlua was overjoyed to have children to look after again, especially ones who enjoyed tossing things around for her to retrieve as tirelessly as she did.

Eventually, the families agreed to have Toby take down the wall between the two houses.

That wasn't the only change. Paige and Emily embarked on a complete renovation of Emily's childhood home. They wanted something that reflected their sensibilities, not those of Emily's parents; something that they could both be comfortable in, not the shrine that Pam and Wayne had made it, in honor of their only daughter.

Some things were sacred, like the marks on the wall where Wayne had tracked Emily's growth from year to year. Abby and Brendan loved measuring themselves against those marks, comparing their heights to "Mommy Em's" as they grew

And, although it cost a lot, and caused some major head-scratching on the part of their builder, they had a bay window and a window seat added to the master bedroom. Paige was pretty insistent about that. Emily didn't mind. She had fond memories of the window seat in her childhood bedroom. It was her thinking place - and occasional crying place. Even after she moved into her parents' bedroom as an adult, she often found herself retreating to the comfort and solace of her old window seat – such as those times when she made her tearful calls to Hanna to cry over Paige.

If the window seat was a nod to Emily's childhood, the pool that they had installed in the back yard was a nod to Paige's. It wasn't the same as the full-sized, in-ground pool of Paige's childhood home; it was a circular, above-ground pool that was easier to maintain and that didn't take away as much space from the back yard as an in-ground pool would have. It also made sense because it was a little safer for kids; – less likely that someone running around the yard and not paying attention would fall in.

* * *

Emily had another surprise for Paige. She made arrangements to have Paige's motorcycle ("That deathtrap," as she once called it) shipped out to Rosewood. Paige was over the moon. The bike, as Paige explained to Emily, wasn't in riding shape, so Paige spent many of her Saturdays with Abby or Brendan – or both – out in the garage, handing her tools, running to the auto store with her, or just watching and getting their hands dirty as she got it back into driving, street-legal condition. They loved it when she cranked up the engine, filling the driveway with smoke and noise. Actually riding it never seemed to be the point. It was like putting together a giant 3D puzzle. It was more about the experience than the final result.

But the time came when Paige had them fitted with helmets and jackets that had hard pads on the inside, so that they would be ready to ride. She only took the kids out on the test track, and only one at a time, at less than blinding speed. The kids rode in the car with Emily or their mom on the way to the track and back, and Paige, solo on the bike, or, sometimes, with Emily behind her, modeled defensive driving for them. There were times when she got impatient and wanted to weave in and out of traffic, but she knew that the example that she was setting for the children was more important. She also knew that if she did anything even remotely dangerous, Emily would very likely dismantle the bike with a sledgehammer.

* * *

One summer, the kids' mom took them down to the Rosewood Community Center and signed them up for swimming classes. Paige and Emily were more than happy to coach them in the water. Brendan had a particular affinity for swimming. As shy and awkward as he tended to be on land, he was a beast in the water. Abby had a casual ease in the pool. She could swim for the enjoyment of it and still win races. She helped keep Brendan grounded whenever he took things too seriously and began to feel pressured. It soon became apparent that they were both on track to begin competitive swimming.

Eventually, the families went in on a timeshare at a house by the lake, where the kids and Kahlua could splash around for a week in the summer, and where they all could relax by the fireplace for a week in the winter.

* * *

The next three weddings in Rosewood were like mini-reunions. Caleb and Hanna got their fairy tale wedding; then, Spencer and Toby, and, finally, Aria and Jason got their happy-ever-afters. Paige and Emily used each wedding as a reminder of how they had first come together, and as an opportunity to renew their vows and their love for each other.

* * *

On a Saturday evening in the fall, Paige and Emily had the kids over for dinner. Abby and Brendan could tell that something was up. It wasn't unusual for them to have dinner next door with Mommy P and Mommy Em, but there was something in the air. The conversation seemed forced, and Paige and Emily kept stealing glances at each other as they tried to gauge the kids' mood. After dinner, they all sat together in the living room. Brendan, though he was bigger, still liked to sit in Emily's lap. Abby sat between the couple, a concerned look on her face as she gazed first at Paige and then at Emily. Emily gave Paige a nod. Since she had known the children longer, she was the one to break the news to them that they had decided to start trying to have a baby. They wanted Abby and Brendan to know that they would still be their kids - always - no less and no more than they always had been.

Abby gave them hugs, excited that they - all of them - would be able to take this step together. Brendan threw his hands in the air and shouted, "Yes! Finally, I get to be a big brother!"

"That's right," Paige said, smiling, relieved. She winked at Emily, who was also relishing the enthusiastic response, and the knowledge that they were all part of the same family. "You'll be the big brother."

* * *

Over the course of time, Abby and Brendan's mother met a nice man, as often happens in life. It was a hard period for the kids - and hard ground for Paige and Emily to navigate, as the kids tried to cling more closely to them. Eventually, the two were married. Abby and Brendan called their stepfather by his first name, not "Dad." It wasn't a sign of disrespect, but it was undeniable that he was more a part of their mother's lives than of their own. He loved the kids, and they grew to love him, and, although it took a while, they managed to settle in as a family.

Paige got the big family that she had always dreamed of. Between them, they had a total of four children - two boys and two girls. As their family grew, so did their love, and their capacity to love. They settled into their roles as soccer moms, field hockey moms, and swim moms. Paige and Emily both fell into coaching positions on their children's various teams. It seemed natural for Emily to succeed the coaches she had known when she was growing up and progressing through the swim leagues. Paige helped her out a bit with the swim teams, and also coached their girls in field hockey – often going head to head for the championship against their crosstown rivals, a team coached by Spencer Hastings-Cavanaugh. All of their matches against Spencer's team – whether for the championship or not - were invariably intense, but always played with the sportsmanship that both coaches instilled in their teams. Paige and Emily's girls got along with Spencer and Toby's girls, and that helped keep things friendly, even in the middle of heated competition.

Thanksgivings were spent in Auntie Hanna's condominium in Manhattan, which had a great view of the parade. The condo was tricked out with all kinds of games and gadgets, and the children were often more interested in playing with Hanna and Caleb's kids than in watching the parade.

There was no telling where in the world Aria and Jason would be from year to year, between Jason's penchant for globetrotting and Aria's travel, supporting book tours for her company's authors. They managed to find a week here and there to for a yearly Rosewood reunion. Later, when they decided to settle down and start a family, they ended up doing so in Monaco.

Nick and Marlene retired to Rosewood, to be closer to family. Pam and Wayne became snowbirds, spending their summers in Rosewood and returning to Texas for the cooler months. But everyone got together for Christmas.

And one of the fixtures, when the whole family was together, was the retelling of the story of how Paige and Emily had gotten together in the first place. It was a story that the kids all laughed over – Emily humorously recounting the way that she kept going overboard with Paige, and miming the tears that she cried; Pam insisting that she always knew, even better than the girls themselves, how serious their relationship was. The children always cheered at the happy ending, when true love prevailed. But Paige and Emily were sure to remind them how important it was to be honest with themselves and with the ones they loved. "Trust in yourself," Emily loved to say, "And trust in love."

And the story always ended with a kiss.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for joining me on this adventure! Special thanks to Nyxxyn22 for your reviews, which never failed to put a smile on my face. And, of course, thanks again to thecatfromaliceinwonderland for the prompt that started it all!
> 
> Thanks for reading! I honestly love you all. Stay Paily! :)
> 
> P.S. - The quote at the beginning of this chapter (remember that?) is from the song "Cul de Sac," by Genesis...


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